Jordan 1952 Constitution (reviewed 2016) - Page 7 of 10

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 7. The Judicial Power

Article 97

Judges are independent, and they are not subject to any authority, in their jurisdiction, other than that of the law.

Article 98

1.

Judges of the Civil and Sharia Courts shall be appointed and dismissed by a Royal Decree in accordance with the provisions of the laws.

A Judicial Council shall – by a law – be established to assume all the affairs relevant to civil judges.
Without prejudice to Paragraph (1) of this Article, the Judicial Council shall solely have the right to appoint civil judges in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 99

The courts are of three types:

Civil Courts
Religious Courts
Special Courts

Article 100

The types of all courts, their levels, divisions, jurisdictions and the manner of their administration shall be specified by a special law, provided that such law shall provide for the establishment of an Administrative Jurisdiction in two levels.

Article 101

1.

The courts shall be open to all and shall be immune from interference in their affairs.

No civilian may be tried in a criminal case where all its judges are not civilian, the exception to that are the crimes of treason, espionage, terrorism, the crimes of drugs and currency forgery.
Court sittings shall be public unless the court decides that they be in camera in consideration of public order or in preservation of morals. In all cases, the pronouncement of the verdict shall be in a public sitting.
The accused is innocent until proven guilty by a final verdict.

Article 102.

Civil Courts in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan shall have the right to exercise jurisdiction over all persons in all civil and criminal matters, including cases filed by the Government or filed against it, with exception of the matters in respect of which jurisdiction is vested in Religious Courts or Special Courts in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution or any other legislation in force.

Article 103

1.

Civil Courts shall exercise their competences in respect of civil and criminal jurisprudence in accordance with the provisions of the laws in force in the Kingdom; however, in matters of personal status of foreigners or in civil and commercial matters which it is habitual in international tradition to apply the law of other countries in their regard, such law shall be applied in the manner provided for by the law.

Matters of personal status are the matters specified by law and in accordance therewith fall within the sole jurisdiction of the Sharia Courts when the parties are Moslems.

Article 104.

Religious Courts shall be divided into:

The Sharia Courts
The Tribunals of other Religious Communities

Article 105.

The Sharia Courts alone shall have the jurisdiction – in accordance with their own laws – in the following matters:

Matters of personal status of Moslems.
Cases of blood money (Diya) if the two parties are both Moslems or one of the parties is not a Moslem and the two parties consent to that the right of jurisdiction be for the Sharia Courts.
Matters pertaining to Islamic (Waqfs).

Article 106.

Sharia Courts shall in their jurisdiction apply the provisions of the Sharia.

Article 107

The manner of organisation of the affairs of the Islamic (Waqfs) and the administration of their financial and other matters, shall be specified by a special law.

Article 108

The Tribunals of Religious Communities are the tribunals of the non-Moslem religious communities that have been or will be recognised by the Government as established in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Article 109

1.

The Tribunals of Religious Communities shall be composed in conformity with the provisions of laws issued pertaining thereto. In such laws the jurisdictions of said Tribunals shall be defined as regards matters of personal status and (Waqfs) constituted for the benefit of the community concerned. However, matters of personal status of such community shall be the matters of personal status of Moslems within the jurisdiction of the Sharia Courts.

The Tribunals of Religious Communities shall apply the procedures and provisions related to the matters of personal status which are not considered matters of personal status of Moslems within the jurisdiction of the Sharia Courts; provided that the legislations of such Tribunals shall organize the conditions of the appointment of their judges and the procedures of trials before them.