Cabinet decisions to develop judicial services and support investment and economic activities

* Approval of the amended regulation for the Jordanian Judicial Institute regulation for the year 2026

* Approval of the Judicial Inspection regulation for regular courts and their affiliated departments for the year 2026

* Approval to grant qualified investments in the field of satellite telecommunications infrastructure incentives to enhance the Kingdom's competitiveness in attracting quality investments in the telecommunications and digital infrastructure sector

* Approval to adopt the national roadmap for the circular economy, which serves as a national framework supporting government trends towards transitioning to a circular economy.

The Cabinet decided, in its session held last Sunday, chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Jafar Hassan, to approve the enabling reasons for the draft amended law of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the year 2026, in preparation for referring it to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau to proceed with its approval procedures according to constitutional principles.

The draft law aims to unify the criminal procedural reference, enhance the guarantees of a fair trial and the right to defense, in addition to improving seizure and detention procedures.

The amendments also come to keep pace with technical development and digital transformation, develop the judicial appeal system, and facilitate procedures by organizing the attendance of the defendant in criminal cases by appointing a lawyer to attend trial sessions instead of personal attendance, in addition to developing the system for managing seized and confiscated assets and funds.

The Council also decided to approve the enabling reasons for the draft amended law of the Enforcement Law for the year 2026, in preparation for referring it to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau to proceed with its approval procedures according to constitutional principles.

The amendments come to keep pace with technical development by digitizing all stages of the enforcement process, from registration to notification, to ensure speed and accuracy and reduce human intervention.

They also come with the aim of enhancing social protection, adhering to international standards, and providing alternatives such as the use of an electronic bracelet.

The proposed amendments include accelerating the rights recovery system by granting the head of enforcement broader powers in early seizure, obligating the debtor to disclose their assets, and shortening some legal deadlines, such as the deadline for appealing the annulment of a sale.

The amendments will also reduce the burden on courts by distributing appeal jurisdictions between courts of first instance and courts of appeal, setting controls for resorting to the Court of Cassation, in addition to achieving economic flexibility by allowing the debtor to sell their seized assets themselves under the supervision of the Enforcement Department.

The draft law addresses procedural loopholes by defining mechanisms for recovering collected amounts, clarifying rules of territorial jurisdiction, and amending the retention of enforcement transactions to become two years instead of one year.

The amendment obligated the debtor to pay 15 percent of the debt value, provided that the monthly installment value is not less than 2 percent of the remaining amount, in addition to obligating the debtor in commercial debts to disclose the sources of their income and assets sufficient to satisfy the debt.

With the aim of reducing vehicle congestion in impoundment yards and preventing damage to vehicles, the regulation allows the debtor to choose the place where the vehicle is kept when it is seized instead of moving it to impoundment yards, in exchange for providing a guarantee that ensures its delivery upon request.

The Cabinet approved the Judicial Inspection regulation for regular courts and their affiliated departments for the year 2026.

The regulation comes for the purpose of reorganizing the Judicial Inspection apparatus and its related tasks, which will reflect on enhancing the effectiveness, speed, and quality of judicial procedures, and strengthening transparency and justice in performing tasks. The draft regulation also specifies that the inspecting judge must be senior in rank to the judge subject to evaluation.

Under the amendments, evaluation measurement tools and specific technical and skill standards will be redefined and developed to ensure the quality and governance of evaluation work, adherence to the Code of Judicial Conduct, and the enhancement of capacity building and specialized training, with the aim of increasing efficiency and achievement and ensuring the fairness and transparency of the evaluation.

The mechanism for submitting, following up on, and processing complaints will also be organized to consolidate governance principles and improve fair trial procedures and judicial rulings, in addition to expanding the inspector's oversight powers and the scope of oversight to include the work of judicial and administrative courts to ensure the proper conduct of the litigation process.

The enabling reasons stated that attaching the Judicial Inspection apparatus to the Judicial Council required tasking the General Secretariat of the Judicial Council with providing the inspection apparatus with the necessary number of employees and all its needs to enable it to perform its tasks, in addition to reorganizing the tasks of the Judicial Inspection apparatus to ensure proper legislative drafting and defining the tasks assigned to the inspection apparatus.

Under the regulation, the categories of judges subject to inspection and evaluation by the Judicial Inspection apparatus are determined, and the mechanism for inspecting judges holding the special grade is organized, and the evaluation mechanism for judges appointed on probation is determined in a way that takes into account the recency of their appointment and motivates them to acquire the sufficient procedural experience they are required to possess.

Evaluation measurement tools are also determined, which include the extent of the judge's adherence to the Code of Judicial Conduct, attendance at training courses, the efficiency of the completion rate, and any observations received in inspection tour reports to ensure the fairness and transparency of the evaluation in a way that achieves its intended purpose.

Technical and skill standards specific to the evaluation process are determined to ensure the integrity and fairness of the evaluation and to guarantee the quality and governance of evaluation work.

The regulation defines the mechanism for objecting to judicial inspection reports and organizes the procedures for considering the grounds for objection and adjudicating them according to a legal mechanism aimed at organizing judicial oversight of inspection procedures.

It also works to organize the mechanism for submitting complaints regarding violations committed against judges and the mechanism for following up on and processing them, consolidating governance principles with the aim of activating integrity and transparency and improving fair trial procedures and judicial rulings.

The Cabinet also approved an amended regulation for the Jordanian Judicial Institute regulation for the year 2026.

Under the amendments, postgraduate programs will be introduced at the Judicial Institute, specifically a Master's degree in Judicial and Legal Studies in cooperation with official Jordanian universities or accredited international universities, which will enhance the specialized academic dimension in the judicial preparation system and provide a scientific path that is deeper and more connected to the nature of judicial work, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and Quality Assurance and relevant regulations regarding the introduction of programs and granting academic degrees.

The scope of categories benefiting from the training programs provided by the Institute will also be expanded to include broader categories of those working in the justice sector and relevant official entities.

The amendments also include improving admission standards by raising the ceiling of academic requirements to ensure the attraction of distinguished candidates.

The legal status of graduates of the Judicial Studies Diploma program will also be reorganized by introducing the functional position of "Judicial Assistant" within the organizational structure of the Judicial Council Secretariat, providing a stable legal and administrative framework that regulates the stage prior to judicial appointment and allows for the utilization of qualified competencies in courts, public prosecution departments, and technical offices within a clear and organized career path.

The Cabinet decided to approve granting qualified investments in the field of satellite telecommunications infrastructure - which meet the conditions and requirements of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission - incentives to enhance the Kingdom's competitiveness in attracting quality investments in the telecommunications and digital infrastructure sector.

The decision comes within the framework of the government's trend towards enhancing the Kingdom's competitiveness in attracting quality and advanced investments in the telecommunications and digital infrastructure sector by granting financial incentives to companies that apply to establish and operate Gateway Earth Stations and Point of Presence (PoP) in the Kingdom through specific and conditional incentives as investment and obligations that are measurable and verifiable, while maintaining the legal, regulatory, and technical requirements related to licensing and spectrum management, and in a way that achieves regulatory justice and equal opportunity among qualified investments.

Benefiting from the incentives is linked to an actual investment within the Kingdom exceeding (10) million US dollars, aiming to reach a minimum total of no less than (6) Gateway/Earth Stations, in addition to a Point of Presence (PoP) within the Kingdom, as well as the associated infrastructure, in accordance with a phased investment and implementation plan, and the accompanying capital and operational investments, construction, equipping, connection, operation, maintenance, and related technical services.

Attracting this type of investment will contribute to attracting quality capital and technical investment within the Kingdom and supporting Jordan's ability to host telecommunications and data traffic with regional reach and serve neighboring markets, and it contributes to enhancing the Kingdom's position as a regional hub for telecommunications infrastructure and digital services.

In addition to enhancing the resilience and continuity of the national telecommunications system by adding infrastructure and independent satellite communication paths that complement traditional terrestrial and marine paths, which provides redundant communication options and paths in the event of failure or interruption of some traditional paths, and supports the continuity of communications and data transmission, and enhances the Kingdom's attractiveness to attract qualitative and advanced technological investments.

As for the impact of these incentives on existing licensees, the establishment and operation of satellite infrastructure does not entail any amendment to the regulatory rights or obligations of existing licensees.

The satellite communications sector will be able to improve and attract additional investments in remote site services, some business sector services, and backup communication and business continuity solutions, noting that satellite communications differ from fiber optic networks and mobile communications in terms of technical structure, service delivery model, and areas of use. Therefore, within the scope of current activity, they do not represent a substitute for existing fixed and mobile networks, but rather add a complementary communication option for them in specific uses and segments.

The Council of Ministers decided to approve the adoption of the National Circular Economy Roadmap, which serves as a national guiding framework that supports government trends towards transitioning to a circular economy.

The Council of Ministers approved the National Circular Economy Roadmap, prepared by the Ministry of Environment in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply and the Royal Scientific Society, to be a national framework that supports the transition towards a more efficient and sustainable economy, based on the optimal use of resources, and the promotion of reuse and recycling, in a way that supports economic growth and preserves the environment and natural resources.

The roadmap comes in line with the Economic Modernization Vision, especially the "Sustainable Environment" engine, and sets a long-term national path until 2050, aiming to enhance the resilience and competitiveness of the national economy, maximize the benefit from local resources, and improve the quality of life, in a way that achieves a balance between the requirements of economic growth and environmental sustainability.

The roadmap is based on transitioning from an economic model that relies on resource consumption and waste disposal to a model based on reuse, manufacturing, recycling, and converting usable waste into productive resources, which contributes to reducing resource depletion, waste, and pollution.

The roadmap responds to economic and environmental challenges, foremost among them water scarcity, high reliance on energy imports, and increasing quantities of waste; which highlights the importance of developing waste management and utilizing it economically.

The roadmap identifies five priority national areas, including circular material supply, efficiency of their use and converting waste into resources, the circular approach to water, and efficient energy systems; and focuses in its sectoral applications on agriculture, mining, food industries, construction, and tourism.

The roadmap pays attention to improving the efficiency of water resource use in the Kingdom, encouraging the reuse of treated water, rainwater harvesting, and recycling water in production processes, which helps in preserving water resources.

The roadmap aims to convert waste into resources of economic value, through encouraging sorting, recycling, organic composting, and energy recovery, and utilizing agricultural, industrial, and food waste in producing new materials and products, which limits the quantities of waste directed to landfills and opens the way for new economic activities.

The roadmap supports reducing food loss and waste, and enhancing the utilization of agricultural and food waste by converting them into fodder, fertilizers, biogas, and other usable products. The National Food Security Strategy also aims to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030.

The roadmap encourages the industrial sector to raise the efficiency of using raw materials, water, and energy, and to enhance cooperation between industrial facilities to utilize the waste of one in production processes at other facilities, which helps in reducing waste and maximizing the economic value of available resources.

The roadmap includes directions to develop more sustainable practices in the construction and tourism sectors, through reusing and recycling construction and demolition waste, reducing food waste in tourism facilities, and improving water and energy efficiency.

The roadmap opens the way for economic and investment opportunities in the recycling, manufacturing, and green technology sector and encourages innovation and the participation of the private sector and small and medium enterprises, which supports the development of new productive activities and job opportunities related to the circular economy.

The proposed guiding measures include developing legislation and policies related to the circular economy, integrating its principles into government procurement, enhancing community awareness, and expanding cooperation between industrial facilities, while reviewing and amending legislation related to priority sectors.

The roadmap enhances coordination between government institutions, the private sector, municipalities, academic institutions, and civil society, by proposing joint mechanisms for governance, monitoring, and measuring progress, which supports the development of implementable sectoral plans according to national priorities.