Hosam Hawamdeh
06-30-2009, 10:11 PM
Jordan remained a part of the Ottoman Empire (see further: Turkey) until World War I and was then placed under an indirect form of British Mandate rule. The Ottoman legal system was retained; in 1927 many Ottoman laws (including the Ottoman Law of Family Rights 1917) were re-enacted with some alterations. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was established as a fully independent state in 1947, with Islam as the state religion. The first Constitution was adopted the following year, and the state embarked on the process of developing a national legal system to replace the vestiges of Ottoman rule.
In 1947, a provisional Law of Family Rights was enacted and remained in force until it was replaced in 1951 by the new Law of Family Rights, Largely following the form of the OLFR, while some of the Egyptian reforms- notably regarding divorce- of the 1920s, the JLFR 1951 was the first in a series of codifications of Islamic family law issued in the 1950s by the national legislatures of newly independent Arab states. A new Constitution was adopted in 1952, retaining the religious and communal basis of jurisdiction in personal status matters. By this time, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank had come under Jordanian rule, including East Jerusalem, and until 1994, even during the Israeli occupation from 1967, the shari`a courts of the West Bank were under the authority of the Jordanian Qadi al-Quda and applied Jordanian law (see further: Palestinian territories).
A Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code were enacted in 1952 and 1953, the former replacing the Ottoman Majalla of 1876. The 1952 Civil Code was replaced in 1976, the new Code drawing from Syrian legislation (which in turn was modelled on the Egyptian Civil Code of 1948). The same year, the Jordanian Law of Personal Status replaced the 1951 JLFR. The JLPS revises the JLFR in a number of significant ways, providing for a more comprehensive code, while retaining reference to the classical Hanafi rules in the absence of a specific reference in the text. Discussions continue on the draft text of a new personal status law.
Court System: The Jordanian legal system draws from the Ottoman heritage in the communal jurisdiction of the religious courts of different communities over matters of personal status. In its civil court system it follows the French model. The shari`a courts are established in the Constitution along with the religious tribunals of other recognised communities and include first instance courts with a single qadi and the Shari`a Court of Appeal. The other two categories of courts established in the Constitution are the civil or regular courts (nizamiyya) and 'special tribunals'. The Constitution grants the shari`a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of Muslim personal status. Precise jurisdiction of and procedure in the shari`a courts is defined in the Law of Shar`i Procedure 1959; the rules governing qualification and functions of shar`i qadis and lawyers are to be found in the Law of Organisation of Shari`a Courts 1972 and the Law of Shar`i Advocates 1952 respectively, both of which have been amended a number of times.
Schools of Fiqh: The Hanafi madhhab is the dominant school in Jordanian law.
Constitutional Status of Islam(ic law): �The 1952 Constitution declares Islam to be the state religion. It does not specify the sources of legislation as a whole, although in regard to the shari`a courts it states that "the shari`a courts in the exercise of their jurisdiction shall apply the rulings of the shari`a law."
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In 1947, a provisional Law of Family Rights was enacted and remained in force until it was replaced in 1951 by the new Law of Family Rights, Largely following the form of the OLFR, while some of the Egyptian reforms- notably regarding divorce- of the 1920s, the JLFR 1951 was the first in a series of codifications of Islamic family law issued in the 1950s by the national legislatures of newly independent Arab states. A new Constitution was adopted in 1952, retaining the religious and communal basis of jurisdiction in personal status matters. By this time, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank had come under Jordanian rule, including East Jerusalem, and until 1994, even during the Israeli occupation from 1967, the shari`a courts of the West Bank were under the authority of the Jordanian Qadi al-Quda and applied Jordanian law (see further: Palestinian territories).
A Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code were enacted in 1952 and 1953, the former replacing the Ottoman Majalla of 1876. The 1952 Civil Code was replaced in 1976, the new Code drawing from Syrian legislation (which in turn was modelled on the Egyptian Civil Code of 1948). The same year, the Jordanian Law of Personal Status replaced the 1951 JLFR. The JLPS revises the JLFR in a number of significant ways, providing for a more comprehensive code, while retaining reference to the classical Hanafi rules in the absence of a specific reference in the text. Discussions continue on the draft text of a new personal status law.
Court System: The Jordanian legal system draws from the Ottoman heritage in the communal jurisdiction of the religious courts of different communities over matters of personal status. In its civil court system it follows the French model. The shari`a courts are established in the Constitution along with the religious tribunals of other recognised communities and include first instance courts with a single qadi and the Shari`a Court of Appeal. The other two categories of courts established in the Constitution are the civil or regular courts (nizamiyya) and 'special tribunals'. The Constitution grants the shari`a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of Muslim personal status. Precise jurisdiction of and procedure in the shari`a courts is defined in the Law of Shar`i Procedure 1959; the rules governing qualification and functions of shar`i qadis and lawyers are to be found in the Law of Organisation of Shari`a Courts 1972 and the Law of Shar`i Advocates 1952 respectively, both of which have been amended a number of times.
Schools of Fiqh: The Hanafi madhhab is the dominant school in Jordanian law.
Constitutional Status of Islam(ic law): �The 1952 Constitution declares Islam to be the state religion. It does not specify the sources of legislation as a whole, although in regard to the shari`a courts it states that "the shari`a courts in the exercise of their jurisdiction shall apply the rulings of the shari`a law."
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