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3. Jordan GENERAL, POLITICAL AND LEGAL OVERVIEW Jordan is a constitutional monarchy; the King exercises far-reaching powers as the head of state and the supreme commander of the armed forces. Economically, Jordan has been one of the most stable countries in the region since the beginning of the Arab Spring. Nevertheless, many Jordanians have voiced their discontent with the deteriorating standards of living exacerbated by the violence in Syria. The huge influx of refugees, limited resources and the complacency of the international community in extending adequate aid to help meet commitments towards Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees, has presented an added humanitarian and economic burden to Jordan. Jordan is currently home to more than 600,000 Syrian refugees who have fled Syria in hopes of finding safety. The refugees have placed a huge strain on Jordan’s meagre resources. 130,000 refugees live in the Zaatari refugee camp in the north of Jordan whilst the remaining 470,000 live in towns and villages across the country, utilising Jordan’s limited health and educational services. The influx of refugees has also led to an increase in prices and,
according to some experts, led to an explosion in the number of beggars and prostitutes. Since 2011, the influence of political opposition movements known collectively as Hirak, have resulted in several constitutional amendments related to judicial independence and anti-terrorism laws. The new amendments increased the powers of the State Security Court at the expense of civilian political rights and freedoms and gave the King additional powers over the judiciary and army. The Jordanian Parliament overturned an earlier decision to allow members of the Judicial Council to be directly elected. Instead, it was agreed they would be appointed by a monarchical decree. The Parliament also approved an article that granted the Judicial Council the right to terminate any judge if inspectors deemed his performance to have been less than ‘good’ for two consecutive years, subject to the King’s approval. In addition to this, the Parliament also passed a legislation granting the King the power to appoint and terminate the president of the Court of Cassation. Administrative courts were ordered to establish a twotier administrative system involving the Administrative Court of First Instance and the Supreme Administrative Court. However, this law was not issued until the second half of 201415. 15 http://www.legal-agenda.com/reportsarticle. php?id=242&folder=reports&lang=ar [The Legal Agenda: Jordanian judiciary during the Arab Uprising 2011-2013 (Arabic source)]