Legal and Institutional Structure for fighting Corruption
In
Jordan
Dr. Zuhair Al Kayed
Dr. Hiyam M. Nashash
Content
Page
- Historical Background .................................................................................................. 2
- Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2
- Regulatory and Organization Infrastructure ................................................................. 3
1. Identification of laws and regulations .................................................................... 3
2. Analysis of institutional infrastructure ................................................................... 7
 The Audit Bureau ............................................................................................... 7
 The Anti-Corruption Department ....................................................................... 8
 Higher Committee for Anti-Corruption ............................................................. 9
 The Supreme Court ............................................................................................ 9
 The Central Bank .............................................................................................. 10
 Internal Control ................................................................................................. 11
 The Anti-Corruption Commission .................................................................... 12
 The Parliament Role in Combating Corruption ................................................ 13
3. Various Organizations Pro-Integrity Reform .......................................................... 13
4. The State of Corruption and the Reform Process ................................................... 16
5. Evaluation of the Anti-Corruption Reform Process over the last five years .......... 17
- Suggested Recommendations ...................................................................................... 18
- Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 21
- References .................................................................................................................... 22
1
Historical Background:
Jordan was established in March 2, 1921 under the name of the “Emirate of TransJordan”. In 1928 the first constitutions was enacted and it remained in force until 1946
when Trans-Jordan gained independence according to the Treaty of London. On May
25, 1956 Prince Abdullah was proclaimed King and a new constitution was declared in
1947. Lately Princes Hussein was proclaimed the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan in 1952 and a new constitution was enacted and stipulates that the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan is an independent and sovereign Arab state, with a parliamentary
and a hereditary monarchy. Hence, after the death of lat King Hussein in February 7,
1999, Prince Abdullah proclaimed King according to the constitution.
The parliament in Jordan is composed of two houses. The Lower House (Deputies)
who are elected by the public in their voting zones and their number is (110) members
including (6) women elected according to a quota system. The Upper House (Senators)
who are elected by the King and they count half the number of the Lower House. The
number of women in the current Upper House are (7) members.
The last election for the Lower House was conducted in June 17, 2003 where the
parliament normally and officially stay for (4) years.
The last official population survey was conducted in October 2004 showed that the size
of the population was (5.3) millions. The GDP in Jordan, according to the central Bank
Report of 2005 was $12.86 billions market price rate and $12.32 billions in real fixed
rate. Where the GDP per Capita $2342.
Finally, according to UNDP Human Development Index Report Jordan was ranked
(90) out of (177) countries where HDI value was (75) for 2005.
Introduction:
One of the major impediments of economic and social development of a country is
prevalence of corruption. It damage integrity, justice, honesty, trust in government and
good governance. Needless to mention that it is highly unlikely to sustain development,
democratic and respected state without fighting corruption at all fronts, in the public
sector, private sector and the NGOs. It is also not sufficient to develop a plan for
fighting corruption without analysis of the corruption practices, laws and regulation and
institutions handling corruption in a country.
This scoping study of corruption on Jordan came through initiative and funded by the
World Bank through Tiri Corporation. Hence, the expert selected to do the scoping
study will follow the framework identified in the terms of reference where we will
handle and respond to the five major areas mentioned in the terms of reference under
the following heading.
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1. Regulatory and Organizational Infrastructure:
For the purpose of this study, "legal-regulatory framework" in Jordan includes laws,
by-laws, and regulations. Laws are introduced by government to parliament for
approval and enacted. Once, laws are enacted they are promulgated by the HM the
King and published in the official Gazette. However, the government can issue
temporary laws, when parliament is in recess where they must be approved by
parliament later on to become permanent. All laws remain in force unless explicitly
repealed and may be amended any time provided the parliament approval. To
implement and enforce legislation, by-laws may be issued by government (The
Cabinet) and promulgated by HM the King whereas regulations may be issued by
ministers at their level.
Jordan has joint and ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption issued
in 2003 where Jordan has issued the ratification of the UN Convention Against
Corruption law no. (28) of 2004.
Laws and by-laws dealing with public official corruption practices include:
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The 1952 Constitution.
The law of Prosecution of Ministers No. (35) of 1952.
Prosecution law and its Amendments No. (16) of 1960.
Economic Crimes Law and its Amendments No. (11) of 1993.
Criminal Court Procedures Law No. ( ) of
Criminal Procedures Law No. (9) of 1961 amended version in the Law No.
(16) of 2001.
Audit Bureau Law No. (28) of 1952 and its Amendments.
Civil service By-Law No. (55) of 2002 and its amendment.
Anti-corruption Commission Law (Draft) Presented to Parliament in 2005
and expected to be approved in 2006.
Ombudsman Law (Draft) developed by the government march 2006 to be
presented to the Parliament.
Money Laundry Law (Draft) Presented to Parliament 2005 and expected to
be approved this year (2006).
Personal Financial Disclosure Law Presented to Parliament 2003 and
expected to be approved in 2006.
The United Nations Convention against Corruption Ratification Law No. (28)
for 2004.
Definition of public servants:
Regarding laws and regulations that prohibit public servants from accepting or
soliciting bribes, receiving gifts from various sources, or embezzling government
funds, it is important to mention that public officials have been defined in a limited and
broader terms according to certain laws. For instance, in the prosecution law and its
amendments no. (16) of 1960, every person is considered an employee in the meaning
ascribed in the public administration crimes chapter (3) in the prosecution law, if same
person is a public servant in the administrative or judicial branch, every officer in the
civil military authorities or any member there in, and every employee or worker in the
country or in general administration. In this definition of the public official, the
legislator has expanded the concept of that official in the prosecution law in contrary to
the "Administrative Law" which define the "Public Official" as the person who has
been appointed in a function or position ascribed in the cadre of government
(manpower table) according to the public budget or the budget of any governmental
department‫ و‬including the employee who has been appointed on a cut-salary basis or on
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a contract based on project account, or saved money allocated, or health insurance,
excluding the worker who works on a daily wage.
This definition has been stipulated in Article (2) paragraph (a) in the civil service bylaw no (1) for 1998 and its amendments. The reason for the expansion of the definition
in the prosecution laws no. (16) of 1960 is to prevent public funds or any governmental
assets from being subject to manipulation by its employees either by taking it for
themselves or helping others to do so.
In the same context, the Economic Crimes Law no. (40) for 2003 has considered the
employees of the following entities as public officials:
-Public Institutions.
-Ministries and Governmental Departments.
-Lower and Upper Houses (Parliament).
-Municipalities, Rural Councils, and Councils of Joint Services.
-Unions and Syndicates.
-Association and Clubs.
-Banks and Public Companies.
-Specialized Loan Institutions.
-Political Parties.
-Any Entities that receives Public Funds.
-Any Entities being funded by any of its parts by the state's Budget.
Accepting gifts and bribes:
Regarding crimes of accepting gifts, bribes and embezzlements of government funds, it
has been stipulated in the prosecution law article (170) under crimes related to function
of a post, that every employee and every person delegated to a public service, whether
by election or appointment, and every person entrusted with an official task such as
arbitrator, expert, or syndicate who requested or accepted for him/ herself or another
person a gift or promise or any other benefit, in return of realizing work that some
should be in his/her capacity as holder of the job, shall be punished with imprisonment
for period, not less than two years and with a fine that equals the value of what he/she
requested or accepted in cash or in kind.
In Article (172) the same prosecution law stipulated that:
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A person who bribes shall be punished with the punishment stipulated in the
previous Article.
A person who bribes and an intervener shall be exempted from the punishment
if he informed the competent authorities with the matter, or confessed of the act
before the case is referred to court.
It has been stipulated in the prosecution law Article (173) that any person who offers
any other person whom mentioned in Article (170) a gift or another benefit, or promise
that person with same in return to the person realizing illegal work or refrain from
realizing a job that should be realized, shall be punished (unless the offer or promise
was rejected) with imprisonment not less than three months and a fine not less than ten
Jordanian Dinars ($13) and not more than two hundred Jordanian Dinars ($ 260).
Embezzlement and Exploiting the Job
Regarding embezzlement and exploiting the job, Article (174) in the prosecution law
stipulated that:
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Every public employee who appropriated any amount entrusted in him as a
result of job that he/she was ordered to manage or collect or safeguard,
whether money or other things, for the country or another person shall be
punished with temporary hard labor and a fine equaling the amount
embezzled.
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Every person who embezzles money belonging to a bank treasuries, or
specialized lending establishment, or public shareholding companies and was
an employee there of (each in the establishment that he/she works in) shall be
punished with the punishment stipulated in the previous paragraph.
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If the act stipulated in the two previous paragraphs occurs through forging
checks or bills or entering incorrect statements into registers or records or
books or through deleting or destroying accounts or papers or other written
documents, and in general through any ruse that aims at preventing the
discovery of embezzlement, shall be punished with temporary hard labor for a
period not less than five years and a fine equaling the embezzled amount.
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Any person who is a partner or incidental intervener shall be punished with the
same punishment.
The 1952 Constitution was the basis of the Jordan’s principal effort to fight corruption
on the top official level. Article (55) of the Constitution gave the parliament the
authority to indict governmental ministers. It also established the Higher Council that
trialed ministers for offences resulting from assuming their duties. The law of
prosecution of ministers No. (35) for 1952 was issued in accordance with Article (3) of
the Constitution. The Higher Council was given the authority to prosecute ministers
who are accused of committing high treason (crimes against state security, external as
well as internal as specified by law); abusing their authority (bribery, theft, conflict of
interest, abuse and misuse of power, etc); and misusing their duties (purchase of state
property, participation in tenders supervised by a public agency and serving as a
company board member or acting as an agent for a company).
Accordingly, reviewing the laws, by-laws and regulations governing the work of anticorruption in Jordan, there are clear and explicit provisions that call for control of
dishonest practices as well as specifying their punishment.
Conflict of interest:
To identify law and regulation that governs conflict of interest one can refer back to the
above mentioned constitution, laws, by-laws and regulations which took care of the
different criminal practices that pertinent to conflict of interest. In addition to what
mentioned in the constitution Article (3) and in the law of prosecution of ministers No.
(35) of 1952, Article (3) in the prosecution law No. (16) of 1960 classifies crimes
against public management including bribery, embezzlement and conflict of interest,
as well as abuse of authority and misuse of responsibilities. In the law of economic
crimes no. (11) 1993 delineates crimes considered misuse of public funds – those that
harm the economic position of the kingdom, cause lack of confidence in its economy,
national currency, and shares or bonds.
The Audit Bureau is entitled and has the authority, according to its law no. (28) of 1952
and its amendments, to make sure that accounts have been kept according to correct
rulings and that the precautionary measures delinquency, perjury and falsification are
5
sufficient and effective. The Audit Bureau has the right to draw the attention of
concerned officials to any deficiencies or shortcomings in the financial and
administrative legislation, or any mistakes committed. It can also express its view
concerning all regulations and instructions given to enhance accomplishment of
objectives of laws and by-laws.
Disclosure of the income
A law that gives mandates regarding the disclosure of the income and assets of the
public servants and the disclosure of the income and assets of their wives and
dependent children, is still discussed in parliament although the government of Jordan
has delivered a draft titled "Financial Disclosure Law" since 2003. This draft law has
been approved by the Lower House in the parliament and sent to Upper House of the
parliament where it is still unprocessed. However, the new government in office since
November 28, 2005 requested the parliament to finalize processing the draft in order to
be implemented through year 2006. The request reflects the concern from the
government end to apply this law in order to maintain specific measures that will
reduce corruption practices among top officials.
The above mentioned draft law it will apply on the following top officials:
- The Prime Minister and Ministers.
- President and Trustees Members of Public Commissions.
- President and General Directors of Public Officials Civil and Military
Organizations.
- Occupants of Top Level Government Positions.
- Mayors of Top Category Cities.
- Chairman and members of The Central Tender Committee and Civil
Specialized Tender Committees.
- Judges.
- Occupants of any position deemed subject to this law by cabinet
decision.
Based on the draft law a department named "Financial Disclosure Department" reports
to the Justice Ministry. A distinguished judge will head the Department and report
directly to the Minister of Justice.
The draft law requires the listed public officials to show sources of their wealth not
only when criminal acts are suspected. They are supposed to deliver financial and
income statement for them and their dependents within three months of receiving the
specified form. The form which include all needed information is kept in a sealed
envelop that must be kept sealed unless needed for criminal investigating. In that case it
can be opened only by the president of the Distinguished Court which is the highest
level in the courts structure.
It is stipulated in the above draft law that financial and belonging statement must be
renewed yearly as long as the official is in public position.
According to the draft law, wealth is considered illegal if an official under this law
maintain this wealth as a result of bribe, gifts, embezzlement of public funds and office
or abuse of authority. Also, any increase in the wealth of the official or his dependents
after being in the official post, and failed to provide the legitimate justification of the
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sources of such increase, will be considered as illegal and a criminal practice where a
case can be brought to court.
According to the above laws and by-laws any public official who shows in good faith
to the proper authorities allegations of corruption by public servants is protected. Not
only this, but, also, even if he was involved in criminal practices of corruption in
partnership with others and disclose the action to the proper authorities he will be
protected, however, he will pay back what ever he took from the public money or from
others because of criminal practices.
2.Institutional infrastructure for combating corruption in Jordan:
The Audit Bureau (AB):
It is the arm of parliament entrusted with the function of conducting external control on
the activities of Ministries, public agencies and public enterprises and the municipal
and rural councils. Its mandate is derived from its law no. (28) of 1952 that is based on
the constitution of Jordan which called for the formation of Audit Bureau to monitor
the state's revenues and expenditures.
Based on its law, the AB carries out the following functions:
1.
2.
Monitor the country’s revenues and expenditures, and audit the accounts
of trusts, advanced payments, loans and where houses.
Advise public agencies that fall within its audit concerning accounting
matters.
In Order to handle the above two main functions the AB practice the following
activities:
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-
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Checking collection of the various taxes and fees (where corruption
practices highly occur) to assure legality of their collection and
estimation.
Scrutinize the sales transactions of state lands and real estate including
commissioning and lease.
Investigate the amount of collected revenue, of all kinds, to make sure
that the right revenue have been collected in due dates and according to
applicable laws and by laws, that the law of public funds has been
applied to diligences, that the collected revenues have been deposited in
the public treasury and have been included in the public budget under
their respected chapter and items.
To verify the legality of revenue nullification and exemption cases to
make sure no revenue cross out or exemption has taken place outside
applicable laws and by laws.
Checking the purpose of spending to make sure that they fall under
budget allocations and within applicable laws and by laws.
Verification of documents and receipts submitted to prove spending,
ensure their soundness and to match their values with the contents of
respective records.
To confirm that spending orders have been issued by concerned parties
and in accordance with correct rules.
To ensure that budget allocations have not been exceeded without the
permission of concerned authorities.
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According to 2003 annual report of the AB the outputs of years 2003-2004 in terms of
items or procedure of audit and investigation as follows:
Table (1)
Items
Sudden inspection
Various Committees
Disclosure Inquiries
Controlling official letters
Review Memos & Audit regulation
Investigation & Audit Committees
Total
Source: The Audit Bureau Report 2003.
2004)*(
9120
51454
371
811
3311
177
65244
2003
8602
39146
489
818
4074
235
53364
It was also reported that the amount of saved money resulted from the AB efforts were
4.7 million JD ($ 18 million) and for 2004 13.6 million JD (S 17 million). It was also
reported that the stolen money and embezzlement cases were (22) in 2003 with an
amount of 323288 JD involved.
The total expenditure of the Audit Bureau for 2005 was 3.615.000 JD including current
and capital expenditures.
Number of employees working in the AB is 630 employees at different levels. These
employees produced many activities in 2003, including: the audit of (10762) accounts
as forward auditing, participation in (39146) different committees, accomplishment of
(12181) follow up cases, (190) legal and accounting consultations, executing (8602)
sudden inspection on funds and inventory processes, executing (6) expenditure return
studies, issuing (489) disclosure inquires , (818) formal controlling letter, and (4074)
review memos, where (14680249) JD saved and returned to the treasury.
The Anti-Corruption Department (ACD):
Upon the letter of designation by HM late King Hussein to the Prime Minister Mr.
Kabareeti in 1996 the Anti-corruption Department had been established in the General
Intelligence Directorate. The department employed 150 intelligence employees in 2005,
who specialize in the follow up of corruption cases, financial and administrative, as
well as illegal practices.
The ACD conducts certain activities based on its mandate as follows:
Secret investigation of corruption cases, and collection of relevant data
and information.
Disruption of corrupt practices and the adoption of an appropriate
decision regarding them.
Referral of persons involved in corruption cases to the public prosecutor
and eventually to civil courts when sufficient evidence is available.
When sufficient evidence is not available for court action, the
department coordinates with concerned parties for follow up activities.
Support the grievances of victims of corruption.
)*(
There are more controlling outputs belong to special teams which take place in 2004 and it took 50%
of the Audit Bureau efforts.
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Coordinate and cooperate with other security agencies to reduce cases of
illegal practices.
Constant cooperation and coordination with concerned parties in some
departments and authorities in order to minimize incidences of
administrative inefficiencies and abuse.
ACD is mandated to deal with direct corruption cases such as: bribery, theft,
embezzlement, falsification of state official documents, using public position to attain
personal interests, economic crimes, favoritism and taking sides, and negligence of
official duties. There are also some other cases where the department is indirectly
involved in coordination with certain authorities, such cases include: tax and custom
evasion, illegal trade in weapon, trade in antiquity, piracy in communication, money
laundry, unnecessary lengthy procedures for investment, breach of copyright and
intellectual property rights.
The department procedures include:
1. Data and information gathering, which can be obtained through inelegance sources,
informants, grievances and complainants letters, security authorities, internal
control units in government agencies, daily and weekly newspapers, friendly
authorities outside and international ones, and NGOs. Data analysis and evaluation
is conducted to decide the occurrence of a corruption cases. In case of occurrence
of corruption case, a second step will be taken as follows.
2.
Second step is the legal investigation, where the department officers take certain
procedures including: suspend a person officially and doing surveillance and
inspections with the support of technical people, recording the investigation
according to the criminal court procedures, referral of cases to public prosecutor
who after completion of thorough investigation refer the case to the specialized
court. The ACD usually follows the cases in order to provide the court with other
supporting documents or witnesses.
The number of official employees in the Anti-corruption department is around 150
employees, however, it is part of the General Intelligence Directorate and the can rely
on this source in case of a need for more specialized people..
The number of cases handled by the department were 332 in 2003 and 391 in 2004
where all cases had been handled and decision been made accordingly.
Higher Committee for Anti-corruption (HCAC):
Based on a direction and regulation issued by the Prime Minister in 2001 a Higher
Committee had been established with a membership of concerned ministers and chaired
by Minister of Justice. The mandate of this committee was to look after very important
and critical corruption cases, where it is difficult to be handled in a legal manner, as a
result to inadequate indications for proof or that such cases are not subject to the
present laws, although it involves corruption in a way or another. Such cases may
involve top officials and ministers where identification of corruption occurrences is not
easy to provide for a reason or another. In such cases, the HCAC may convene and
issue a certain recommendation regarding the persons involved. However, the number
of cases handled by this committee is limited.
The Supreme Court:
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Based on Article (31) of the constitution of Jordan, the law of the supreme court No.
(12) of 1992 was issued. According to its law and in line with specialization of courts,
the Supreme Court specializes in administrative affairs and decisions.
Its mandate include rebuttal request regarding the following:
Rebuttal of election results of Municipalities, Chambers of Industry and
Commerce, voluntary associations, societies and clubs registered in the
kingdom, and other rebuttal cases of elections conducted according to
applicable laws and by-laws.
Rebuttal cases of final administrative decisions regarding appointments
to public positions, annual increments, promotions, transfer, and
secondment.
Requests of public employees regarding cancellation of final
administrative decision on their retirement, dismissal, or suspension
from work illegally.
Grievances of public employees for cancellation of disciplinary decision
taken against them.
Conflict related to salaries, allowances & retirement benefits of retired
public employees of their heirs.
Rebuttal requests submitted by any aggrieved party for the cancellation
of any decision of action that violates the constitution or any by-law that
violates the constitution or applicable laws.
Rebuttal requests of aggrieved parties requesting suspension of
application of any provisional law that violates the constitution or
applicable laws.
Compensation requests for damages resulting from above decisions and
procedures fall under the domain of the court.
Rebuttal cases against administrative decisions are accepted at any time
with no time limitations.
The Supreme Court is part of the Higher Council of Justice and its budget is included in
the council and courts budget. Also, the number of judges and employees is decided by
the council.
The Central Bank of Jordan:
The amended law of the Central Bank No. (11) of 1992 was issued to organize and
audit bank transactions in Jordan, particularly receiving and investing deposits wholly
or partially, by lending or any other way allowed by law.
The central bank exercises certain responsibilities and authorities to limit possible
dishonest practices including:
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A company that wishes to engage in banking transaction has to petition for a
license to do so. Upon review of the permit request, the Central Bank can ask
the petitioner to provide the information necessary to convince it that the
company's capital, expected profit, style of management and the need of the
country for it, justifies issuance of the requested license.
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The Central Bank expects financial companies to provide it with any
information, statistics and reports regarding their work and activities. It has the
right to inspect their records and accounts.
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A licensed bank whose main headquarters are located outside Jordan has to
appoint resident regional manager in Jordan and provide the Central Bank with
official document that authorizes him to receive all official correspondence
related to the bank activities and makes him directly responsible to Jordanian
authorities. A photocopy of that has to be filed in the Central Bank.
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Each licensed bank has to display, for at least three months, and in a visible
place in its offices and branches, its last annual balance sheet, certified by a
licensed auditor, and a list that includes the names of the members of its board
of directors. In addition, the bank has to publish its annual balance sheet in one
of the local papers. The bank has to file with the Central Bank a copy of its
annual balance sheet within three months of its preparation and a copy of its
income statement for that year, certified by a licensed auditor. Also it has to
reserve a minimum level of its assets as determined by the Central Bank.
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The Central Bank has to name one or more of its employees to check the
records, accounts and document of any licensed bank at least once a year. The
audited bank management and employees have to fully cooperate with the
Central Bank auditor and provide him with all the required documents and
records.
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If the Central Bank auditor discovers that the audited bank transactions are
proceeding in a manner that may harm the interests of that bank depositors, or
investors, then the Central Bank has to notify that bank in writing about its
worries and demand a detailed explanation of its conditions.
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The Central Bank can issue an order to the above licensed bank to halt the
harmful action and to correct its situation.
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If a licensed bank halted payments for any reason or was ordered to halt its
transaction by any authorized party, the Central Bank can immediately take
over the management to that bank and supervise the safety of its funds,
documents and correspondents as it deem appropriate to protect the interests of
depositors.
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A member of the board of a licensed bank, or its general manager, or any
manager or employee in that bank loses his post if convicted by a special court
of committing a moral crime, including theft, deception, falsification, perjury,
bribery, slander and breach of confidence. The same applies when a court
decides to reserve all or part of his salary towards payment of his debts, or when
he was not able to pay his loans.
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If a certified bank violates any of the provisions of applicable laws, by laws or
instructions, the Central Bank can impose a warning or degrading as a
disciplinary action. However, frequent violations give the council of the Central
Bank upon the recommendation of the Governor of the Central Bank, the right
to impose any of the following punishment:
● preventing the violating bank from conducting some transactions
and the imposition of appropriate limitations on its deposit activities.
● Appointment of a temporary auditor to supervise its activities.
● Withdrawal of its license.
Internal Control and Enhancing the Financial Integrity in Government:
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The Internal control function is entrusted to the Ministry of Finance where the Minister
of Finance is responsible for control of the accounts of other ministries and public
agencies and making sure that each of them complies with the terms of the financial by
law No. (3) of 1994 concerning its accounting and financial transactions.
To perform its role, the Ministry of Finance checks spending to ensure compliance with
applicable legislation. The Ministry of Finance notifies other ministries and agencies
about any deficiencies or excess and demand the correction of any violations of
appropriate legislation.
The Ministry of Finance can also conduct surprise checks and inventories of cash flow,
warehouse contents, postal stamps and other financial transactions.
To activate the role of internal control in government units, the government has issued
its circular No. (31) of 1992. According to the circular, the internal control units have
to assist top management in the governmental agencies in controlling public funds,
including raising performance levels to planned agencies function. A general
framework for the activities of the internal control units in the various ministries and
public agencies was established and the necessary measures were taken to implement
the internal unit function. The required instructions were issued to ensure
accomplishment of designed internal control objectives, including increasing the level
of performance, tightening control of public fund and energizing the systems of internal
audit.
The Anti-Corruption Commission:
This Commission is still under making what has been the subject of the proposed law
(draft law) by the government during 2005 and delivered to the Parliament. The present
government requested the parliament to consider this law as urgent in order to establish
the Commission.
However, according to the draft the main objectives of the Commission will include:
Conserve the public fund.
Disclosure of corruption areas and the search on all its types, financial
and administrative corruption.
Fighting favoritism and mediation.
Preserve justice, equality and equal opportunities in distribution of the
development benefits and fighting personality assassination (slander).
Enhancement of citizens’ trust in governmental institutions through
application of institutionalization of government practices and providing
transparency, integrity and honesty.
Enhancement of modernization and reform efforts and government
agencies development, especially the management and judicial systems.
Enhance the trustworthiness of Jordan among investors and the
international organizations.
According to the draft law of the commission it will be entitled of:
Detect financial and administrative corruption and take direct
surveillance and investigation needed, disclose all indictment and wrong
doing, and collection of guidance and information in this regard.
Follow up of each person violate this law and detention of his financial
belonging, modify the decision of detention and return of his financial
belonging, detent him of traveling, order his agency suspend him from
work, and to suspend his salary and allowances and all his financial
beneficiary.
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To practice control on all government authorities, formal and public
organizations, NGOs, public corporations, individual and any
corporation dealing with the public sector.
Control on all taken procedures of public tenders and its conformation
with official provisions and principles according to enacted legislations.
Receive and accept all complains and informants letters that come from
relevant sources according to this law and its regulations which have
been put in place for such end.
The Parliament role in combating corruption:
Based on the constitution there are three powers of authorities in the government,
namely: the legislative power, the judicial power and the executive power. Each power
of authority has duties and responsibilities. The legislative authority reside in HM the
King and the Parliament which is composed of the upper house (Senates) and the lower
house (Deputies).
In the area of combating corruption the Parliament is responsible for the following:
The Prime Minister and the Cabinet Members are jointly accountable to
Parliament regarding public policy and each Minister is accountable to
Parliament regarding the performance of his Ministry.
Each new cabinet has to deliver a speech of confidence, by the Prime
Minister to the Parliament within a month of the formation of this
cabinet, to announce the new policy for the government and request the
vote of confidence accordingly.
The Parliament has the authority to indict a minister. A Higher Council
chaired by the president of the Upper House can apply the law of civil
offenses against offenders including Ministers.
The Minister indicted has to be suspended from his position until the
Higher Council decides case. The Minister resignation does not stop his
indictment or trial.
The Prime Minister has the responsibility of submitting draft laws to the
Parliament who has the right to accept, amend or reject it. However, the
draft laws have to be submitted to the upper house where the draft laws
have to be approved by both houses and signed by HM the King in order
to become laws.
3. Donors organizations supporting integrity and reform:
Such organizations include the World Bank where an effort had been made over ten
years ago (1996) through funding and organizing international conference in Jordan.
The World Bank at that time invited several international representatives of anticorruption who came and present their cases, including Hong Kong, Malaysia,
England, Venezuela, Singapore, and Transparency International. The aim of that
conference was to raise awareness among the public and the officials regarding the
negative impact of corruption on economic development, if the country intends to
promote the society for more openness toward inside and outside investment. The
World Bank continues to promote transparency and accountability in Jordan through its
support and programs for development of the economy, the public sector reforms and
the financial and monetary reforms. Also, the IMF contribution through follow up of
Jordan compliance with IMF measures of transparency and accountability in the
monetary and financial matters.
13
The United Nations (UN) and the UNDP, also, support Jordan through its programs to
maintain transparency and accountability. For instance UNDESA conducted a study on
transparency and accountability in the public sector in the Arab Region, where Jordan
was involved. The UNDESA facilitated the presentation of this study in the 6th Global
Forum in Seoul, May 2005 and in a regional expert and government official meeting in
Dubai, March 2005 in order to allow the Arab countries to see the results of this study
and to get the benefits of the lessons learned. UN and UNDESA still concerned of this
issue in Jordan as well as in the rest of the region as the World Bank is doing.
Religious preachers always address issues of corruption and call on people to be faith
to their religion principles of behaving with integrity, faithful in doing their work, and
avoid any criminal practices where corruption is a great sin on Islam, as well as in all
faith and religions. Part of these preachers are formally appointed by the Ministry of
Islamic Affairs and others are volunteers where many of them are very influential in
their communities. Needless to mention that Jordan is a moderate country where many
people abide by moderate Islamic instructions that dismiss the fanatic ideas which do
not go in line with the substance of Islamic religion.
Media in general and Jordan is not exception occupies main role in proving the
maximum limit of transparency and allowing individuals and society access to
information, understand procedures and ensure its safety, justice and integrity. It is also
responsible for revealing the practices of law violations and public money wastes and
has its role in disposing and combating corruption and favoritism. Adherence to public
and private corporations safety as well as protecting the reputation of individuals in
authority positions, and the prevention of character assassination and slander are as
much important as corruption, but should not in a way affect transparency and freedom
to access information and publish it as well as protecting journalism and media
personnel in their monitoring role in disposing corruption and favoritism practices.
During the last few years, media in Jordan is playing good role in focusing on
corruption practices and raising this issues more seriously than ever due to
enhancement of media freedom and encouragement by certain officials and advocates
for fighting corruption in the society. Needless to say that a lot of freedom of press and
other media is still needed to promote the vision and intention of leadership in Jordan in
maintaining more transparency and accountability where the outcome will be less
corruption. Ownership of the media in Jordan is a mixed one, where daily news papers
are privately owned and public organizations have share in some. Radio and Television
are public organization. in addition, there are many daily and weekly newspapers and
magazines that are privately owned. The government has the authority, through the
public press department, to monitor and control the media to some extend, as discussed
under section (5).
There are some research studies and articles conducted as well as columns written in
Newspaper and magazine, however probably the most effective and provocative is the
public opinion polls conducted by the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of
Jordan. According to a poll released in April 2005, the public trust in the ability of
government, over the last (10) years, to tackle major issues such as poverty,
unemployment, corruption and improving living standards is gradually declining,
reflecting what observers believe is a “confidence gap” between the public and the
government where such confidence is decreasing. The polls are meant to measure
expectations first and then perceptions of performance by Prime Ministers and Cabinet
members among opinion leaders and the general public. According to polls, people are
losing confidence gradually in successive governments because they cannot see that
these governments are delivering especially on major economic issues. The April 2005
14
poll showed that only 15.6% of the national sample surveyed believed that the new
government (at that time) would be “greatly” successful in shouldering its
responsibilities, while 38% had expressed the same optimum in previous government
of 1996.
According to April 2005 poll a majority of opinion leaders, who include senior
officials, journalists, political party and professional association leaders, and the
national sample, felt the government would be unable to tackle major economic
affliction such as poverty and unemployment, improve living standards and provide
citizens with equal opportunities. However, around half of those surveyed in both
samples believe the government would be able to stomp out corruption. Among the
national sample 48% believe it will successfully stomp out corruption, whereas 53%
opinion leaders expressed confidence that it will combat corruption. The poll also
showed that Jordan’s southern region was the least optimistic of the country’s three
regions about the success of the government in handling its responsibilities, followed
by the central region whereas the northern region is the most optimistic. However, it is
important to mention that the south region in Jordan is considered the poorest and it has
several marginalized areas where people lack better education, health and social
services, not to mention lack of economic opportunities due to being a semi-desert
region.
A pilot study on bribery in Jordan revealed, in March 7, 2006, the 78.3% of Jordanian
do not think that government is serious in combating bribery. The survey of 327 people
from different sectors and age groups, conducted by Jordan Transparency Forum (TIJordan) and the Arab Archive Institute also revealed that 59.6% of respondents believe
bribery will increase next year. Fifty percent of those sampled said they had in fact
made a bribe in one form or another.
When asked about the amount of bribe paid, 17% said it was JD5, another 17% said
they paid between JD 10-20m 11% said they paid between JD 21-50 and 8% said they
paid more. 24.8% of the sample said they paid a bribe to “facilitate or accelerate a
sound legal document”, while 5.5% said the bribe was to facilitate an illegal document.
When asked why those who receive bribes do it, 52% of respondents, said they believe
those who take bribes do it to feed their families, while 35% said they do it to become
rich. Hence, the prevalent bureaucracy within the public sector and the fact that public
employees are under paid and the need to improve their living standards are main
reasons behind bribery.
This means that the entire public sector needs to be reformed in order to ease
bureaucracy in one hand, and public employees should have their salaries improved, in
the other. Awareness increased amongst the public regarding the damage of corruption
to the society, the need for more compliance with laws and regulation as well as the
code of practice among public employees and citizens.
Utilization of social, political, economical and administrative sciences researchers by
the government, NGO and the private sector will be highly valuable for handling issues
of economic, social, political and management development where transparency and
accountability at all levels and areas are highly needed in order to enhance anticorruption practices.
4.
The State of Corruption and the Reform Process:
15
In Jordan, corruption can become a bigger and more costly problem than in developed
countries where it can infest a single component of the economic or political system.
Needless to mention that corruption in modern society is correlated with the rapid
economic and social modernization. In fact more than three decades ago the corruption
correlated to shame and it is a sin in all religions. Nowadays corruption is considered
by many as cleverness, smartness and part of ordinary business life. In Jordan, during
the last three decades, and inspite the official political structure, in practice the
dominance of the executive branch over the two branches of power (Judicial and
Legislative) of the government is conspicuous where the excessive centralization of
power and decision making within the executive branch defies attempts at change and
more significantly, impedes efforts to address the problem of corruption effectively. In
addition, most top officials are not well prepared in terms of ethics, transparency and
accountability, technical skills, or professional behavior to assume proper role in
decision making process. The capacity of public service is low, although there is
adequate capacity in terms of educated people in Jordan. Unfortunately there were no
scientific or indicative studies that can measure the level of corruption in the country
until the emergence of the Transparency International (TI) reports during the last
decade.
The corruption perception index 2004 showed that Jordan ranked 37 out of 145
countries involved, where CPI 2004 score for Jordan was (5.3). That score was much
better than the CPI 2003 which was (4.6) where Jordan ranked (43) out of (133)
countries involved. That change indicates in a way or another that an efforts have been
made to combat corruption in the society.
In another research study by Sarab Repucci, titled a survey of Governance in 30 under
performing states, Jordan rated less than average among 30 countries involved where
Jordan’s scores showed in table (3):
Table (3)
Jordan scores among Countries at the Crossroads (scale 0 to 7 strong)
Civil liberties
Rule of Law
Anti-Corruption & Accountability
Transparency
Public Voice
3.46
2.75
2.92
&
2.94
This means that there are a lot of efforts have to be done in the area of anti-corruption.
The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report on Jordan January 2006 credited
Jordan as the legislative basis for the fiscal management is quite comprehensive, but
the report stated that there are weaknesses in the enforcement of the legislation. The
report on the observance of standards and code (ROSC) issued in January 2006 by the
(IMF), credited Jordan also for having achieved important progress towards greater
fiscal transparency in the recent few years. The report provides an assessment of the
fiscal transparency practices in Jordan in relation to the requirements of the IMF code
of good practices on fiscal transparency based on discussions with the authorities and
other organizations and the authorities’ response to the IMF fiscal transparency
questionnaire.
According to the report, Jordan has introduced a debt target to anchor the medium-term
fiscal framework, enhanced the coverage, timeliness, and periodicity of the budget and
fiscal reports, besides undertaking reforms related to the budget classification and
16
treasury management, which contributed to improve the transparency in several areas
of the code. However, Jordan fails to meet several requirements of the IMF code, the
IMF reported. Though there are some important exceptions to this, broad and sustained
efforts will be required in order to approach international good practices for fiscal
transparency. Moreover, the IMF reported that the short-term priorities for the
government should be focused on simple measure to improve the availability of
information and independent assurance of integrity, largely through more systematic
management of existing information and processes. However, the IMF report identified
three main challenges facing the government of Jordan:, first, to clarity the boundaries
of the government and border of public sector from the rest of the economy to ensure
appropriate accountability, in the design and implantation of fiscal policy; second, is to
improve the transparency of fiscal policy to facilitate legislative and public debate on
fiscal policy objectives; and third is to establish mechanisms to provide further
assurances of the integrity of fiscal information.
5.
Evolution of Anti-Corruption Reform Process over the last five years in
Jordan:
During the last five years concern about corruption become a society issue where
attention by government, NGOs and Many others have been stimulated by HM the
King of Jordan who raise the red flag towards corruption and practices of corruption at
all levels in the society.
The prosecution and conviction of top officials and other persons of high rank are
indicator of the attitude towards the need for serious follow-up to mismanagement and
corruption.
The decision of the government in 2002 to constitute the Higher Committee for
Transparency and Accountability, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister the Minister of
Justice, to compact corruption is also another indicator.
The inclusion of the Transparency issue as a measure in the King Abdullah II Award
for distinguished organizations and employees award is an indication for anticorruption practices. The award has been implemented on a yearly basis with the aim of
improvement in the service delivery and modernization of management process and
practices at all organization and enhancement of transparency and accountability in the
public sector.
Based on a royal directive to the government in 2003 to conduct studies through
utilization of different specialization and interest of specified persons who are capable
of envision the future state of Jordan, where the emphasis will be on building new and
modern Jordan under the motto (Jordan First) a new committee has been constitute,
named the National Committee for Combating Corruption and Favoritism. The purpose
of the Committee was to provide the government and his Majesty the King with a
document that can help and facilitate with ideas, recommendations and suggested
methods to build a national system for integrity and facing various aspects of
corruption and favoritism. It is considered one of the main foundations to enhance
justice, equity, state of law and institutions, adherence to transparency, as well as
preserving the Jordanian Arab Islamic values which constitutes the basics of the social
relation’s system as another indicator for the high concern of anti-corruption. The
produced document is presented to the Prime Minister who raised it to the King. Based
on that document many initiatives have been proposed to be executed including the law
for Anti-corruption (in the Parliament now),
17
The Ombudsman (under study now with support of Scandinavian countries), where the
purpose of it will be enhancement of integrity and response to public complaints about
officials mismanagement and wrong doing.
The personal financial Disclosure (in the Parliament now), as mentioned above.
More empowerment interms of knowledge, training and authorities to certain
organizations dealing with anti-corruption Practices such as the Audit Bureau, the AntiCorruption Department, the Supreme Court and the Judicial system, the role of the
central Bank in handling the transparency and accountability in the banking procedures
and processes, the enhancement of the NGOs role in whistle blowing and the
encouragement of the media in pursuing corruption cases.
The acceptance by government of Jordan in 2003 to participate in a regional study on
Transparency and Accountability in the public sector in the Arab Region Organized by
UNDESA and conducted by national experts in cooperation with UNDESA is another
indication for importance of the anti-corruption practices in Jordan, where only six
countries were involved in the study. The study compared policies and practices of
anti-corruption, transparency and accountability in each country. The outcome of the
study can be summarized in that the laws, by laws and regulation have included core
values such as integrity, neutrality, legality, fairness and equality among others,
however, they are not well communicated or demonstrated consistently by leaders in
the public sector. Codes of conduct are not perceived to be followed or enforced
systematically. Regarding conflicts of interest disclosure requirements are not existed
in Jordan yet. Disciplinary measures are set out clearly but are not seen to be
consistently taken. Again, these observations of outcomes show that there is a
significant gap between policies and practices, particularly for reporting on and
investigating wrongdoing was highly critical to ensuring accountability and anticorruption practices.
The role of media is highly significant in anti-corruption practices especially in
investigating corruption cases. However, it is highly unlikely that this role will be really
significant if the freedom of media is hampered by any authority either from the
government or the private sector. Based on two surveys conducted 2005 by the Higher
Media Council (HMC) on press freedoms, journalists enjoy “relative freedom”. They
measured experiences of reporters and chief editors, where both groups were asked to
respond to separate list of 15 questions – each pertaining to what would be considered
obstacles to and violations of press freedom. The results included that one third of the
respondents (765) experienced lack of access to information that is why they interpret
this result as relative freedom versus the “very high freedom” and “high freedom” in
conducting their work. The next diagram will show the results of survey regarding
press freedom.
18
40
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0
Obstacles to and Violations of Press Freedom
The Higher Media Council was established in October 2001 as a regulatory and
reference body for media. HMC is trying now to upgrade the media sector in Jordan
through drafting media related policies and legislation, organizing workshops and
training programs, and conducting surveys and studies.
Media is utilized by the present government to promote and enhance citizen’s
awareness of their rights in various laws and regulation. The government, so far,
distributed more than 2 millions copies of the Constitution of the country to promote
people’s awareness. This endeavor is emanated to promote transparency and more
accountability in the society which will lead to more trust fullness interrelationship
between government and citizens.
The composition of a Higher committee mandated with recruitment and selection of top
level officials as Deputy Minister and General Secretaries on a very competitive bases
in order to avoid appointment of such leaders on a favoritism and personal bases, is an
indicator for serious consideration of anti-corruption practices.
Suggested Recommendations:
It is highly unlikely that any country or government can eliminate corruption or
misconduct as long as we have human being. Hence preventing corruption is as
complex as the issue or phenomenon of corruption itself. A range of integrated policies,
institutions and mechanisms are needed for the reduction of corruption including sound
ethical political, economical, social and management systems. However,
recommendations for more integrity, transparency, accountability and honesty to bridge
the gap of trust and confidence between the government and the public may include:
-
Transparent ethical standards for public service that reflected in the legal
framework to be maintained.
-
Ethical guidance should be communicated well to public servants to guarantee its
application and compliance at all levels and in any time of occurrences.
19
-
Political commitment to integrity and ethics must reinforce ethical behavior of
public servants where political leaders and top official set examples of integrity and
abidance of code of ethics.
-
Transparency of decision-making process and openness to scrutiny and
investigation by interest groups of persons and the media.
-
Transparent guidelines for interaction between the public, private and NGOs sectors
to allow effective accountability.
-
Government and civil service laws, policies procedures and practices should be
developed and reviewed regularly in order to be based on ethical values and code of
conduct which promote integrity, honesty and selflessness.
-
Appropriate accountability mechanisms and clear procedures and sanctions should
exist to handle misconduct in the public service.
-
The government must develop an active ethics and integrity infrastructure at the
country level which include political commitment, and effective legal framework,
efficient accountability mechanisms, workable codes of conduct, professional
communication strategy and mechanisms, supportive public service conditions, the
existence of some ethics coordinating body, and an active society including media.
In other words, a good governance environment where economy, efficiency,
effectiveness, integrity, transparency, accountability, rule of law and citizens
involvement and trust of government are maintained and sustained in a democratic
manner.
20
Conclusion:
These newly established organizations, laws and regulation, committees, studies,
surveys and polls are new vehicles to enhance the climate of integrity, transparency,
accountability, equality, rule of law, and justice where corruption must become a very
costly practice. Jordan has taken several steps forward in combating corruption in order
to encourage investment and enhance the trust between the public and the government.
Such issue now is suppose involving the government, NGOs, media in cooperation
with each other to carry this national matter at all levels. The progresses in combating
corruption during the last five years seem very serious. It is expected that alleviation of
corruption damages to the economy and to the social life will prevail in the future, as
long as the leadership of Jordan considering this issue as priority in the country’s
national agenda. However, researches, studies and training are always needed to
improve and enhance the efforts exerted to fight corruption.
21
References
1.
Global Corruption Report 2005, Transparency International, Berlin, Germany.
2.
Public Sector Transparency and Accountability in selected Arab Countries:
Policies and Practices, UNDESA, UN, N.Y, USA, 2004.
3.
Strengthening Financial Accountability and Transparency. A Report submitted:
UNDP-Amman, Jordan Feb. 1999, the Institute of Public Administration, Amman,
Jordan, 1999
4.
Unlocking the Human Potential for Public Sector Performance: World Public
Sector Report 2005, UNDESA, UN, N.Y., USA, 2005.
5.
Public Sector Transparency and International Investor, OECD, Paris, France,
2003.
6.
Public Sector Transparency and Accountability: Making It Happen, OECD, Paris,
France, 2002.
7.
Promoting Integrity in Governance: Towards Anti-Corruption Strategies, G.
Shabbir Cheema, UNDESA, UN, N.Y. USA, undated.
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Toward Participatory and Transparent Governance, edited by Pan Suk Kim, Sixth
Global Forum on Reinventing Government, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2005.
9.
Innovation and Quality in the Government of the 21st Century, Fifth Global Forum
on Reinventing Government, Mexico City, Mexico, 2003.
10. Managing Trust: Transparency, Accountability & Ethics in Malaysia, edited by
Patrick Pillai, et al, ISIS Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, 1995
11. Several laws and by law Dealing with Corruption, Ethics, and Integrity in Jordan.
12. Audit Bureau Report 2003, Audit Bureau, Amman, Jordan, 2005.
13. Anti-Corruption Report, unpublished report, Amman, Jordan, 2005.
14. Wasta: The Hidden Force in Middle Eastern Society, Robert Cunningham and
Yasin Sarayrah, Praeger publisher, Westport, CT, USA, 1993.
15. Governance: Issues and Practices, Zuhair Al Kayed, Arab Organization for
Administrative Development, Cairo, Egypt, 2003.
22