The Judiciary

Civil Courts
Religious Courts
Special Courts

The Jordanian constitution specifically states that the role and functions of the judiciary must be completely independent of influence from the executive and legislative branches; the courts are subjected to no other authority than that of the law. Judges are appointed by the Higher Judiciary Council upon a recommendation of the Minister of Justice but require endorsement by a royal decree. They are normally graduates of recognized universities who have served as clerks and officers of the court. The Ministry of Justice, with approval of the King, assigns judges to serve in courts, and has the ability to transfer, promote and dismiss them.

There are three types of courts in Jordan: the civil, religious and special courts, made up of one or more judges, but no juries.

Civil Courts

The civil judiciary is a two level system with a supreme court. The first level consists of the magistrates’ courts and the courts of first instance while the second level is the court of appeal. The court of cassation (the supreme court of the kingdom) sits in review of these two levels.

The jurisdiction of the magistrates’ courts consists of hearing civil and criminal cases regarding issues involving small fines and a maximum prison term of two years. The courts of first instance have general jurisdiction over all criminal and civil matters not granted to other courts’ jurisdiction, and also hear appeals for some judgments of the magistrates’ courts. The next judicial tier, the court of appeal, is presided over by a tribunal of three judges. It hears appeals of the decisions of the magistrates’ courts, and decides appeals from decisions of the courts of first instance.

The court of cassation, the highest judiciary, is presided over by a judge appointed by the King and who serves as the country’s Chief justice. The court holds its sessions with five judges to hear appeals from the court of appeal. In some cases the court sits in full panel of nine or even fifteen judges to decide on important cases or in certain legal circumstances.

Religious Courts

The religious courts are divided into the Sharia (Islamic law) courts for Muslims, the tribunals of religious communities for non-Muslims and the ecclesiastical courts for the minority Christian communities. These courts have jurisdiction over cases of personal status such as marriage, divorce and communal endowment. Rulings of religious courts may be appealed at the religious court of appeal in Amman.

Individuals not of the same religion who do not agree to the jurisdiction of a religious court are allowed to bring their case to the specialized civil court. If there is a conflict of jurisdiction between two religious courts, or between a religious and civil court, the president of the court of cassation forms a three-judge tribunal to decide jurisdiction or to hear the case. One judge sits in each Sharia court and rules on cases according to Islamic law, and sometimes based on the civil status law if divorce, for example, is involved.

Each Christian court is made up of three judges, usually members of the clergy, who base their rulings on different aspects of canon law interpreted by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions. Islamic law is applied in inheritance cases.

Back to top

Special Courts

The term specialized court is used to describe any court, other than civil and religious, that has been granted a jurisdiction to rule in specified issues. These mainly involve the state security court, which hears cases related to drug trafficking, illegal smuggling, economic crimes, and security related cases. The state security court, which replaced the military courts of the martial law period in Jordan between 1956 and 1990, comprises two military judges and one civilian judge who try both military personnel and civilians. Its verdicts are not final and may be appealed at the court of cassation.

Special courts also include the Customs Court, Income Tax Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice. The jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice is related to the public administration. This includes hearing petitions, issuing injunctions involving public servants charged with wrongdoing, election issues, as well as many other issues specified by the law establishing the High court of Justice. The Customs court consists of the Customs Court of the First Instance and the Customs Court of Appeal. It has jurisdiction over civil and Criminal Cases related to customs and smuggling. The Income tax Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to look into the appeals made by individuals and companies against the income tax imposed by the income tax department.

It should be noted that there are other types of specialized courts and that there is a debate between lawyers regarding the importance of having specialized courts. Specialized courts can play a major role in both legal and economic development and their establishment could be of great value though it should be studied carefully. The table below delineates the different types of courts in Jordan along with their level in the judicial hierarchy.

Back to top