AMMAN — Local experts were divided on the
purported government intention to extend the provisions of
Defense Order No. 28, with some saying it will help debtors, while others contending it is unfair
to creditors.
اضافة اعلان
Defense Order No. 28 is related to the imprisonment
of debtors. It was supposed to expire at the end of June.
Legal experts interviewed by
Jordan News said
extending the defense order will help debtors, especially in light of the
difficult economic situation. Others, however, said it would be unfair to
creditors, who have no other means to recover the amounts owed to them.
President of the
Jordan Bar Association Yahya Abu
Aboud told
Jordan News that Defense Order No. 28 was issued at the
beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
He said that was necessary in view of the health
guidelines given at the time to reduce the number of infections and control the
spread of the virus.
“But now, it can be said that the pandemic is over
it had lost its justification,” he said.
He said that the country has passed the crisis and
the pandemic, and all the economic and social conditions have returned to
normal, so the defense order must be stopped,.
He said that there are institutions and legislation
that enable the country to deal with the repercussions of the pandemic without
the defense order.
At the same time, “I can say, from my experience as
a lawyer, that during those two years, since the issuance of the defense order,
most of the creditors failed to pay their debts,” he said.
In the absence of the defense order, he stressed
that “the law restores balance to dysfunctional relations, with balance and
fairness for both parties”.
Abu Aboud also said that it is important to conduct
a study “to assess the financial and social conditions after the defense order
was issued, and the extent of its impact on the overall economy”.
Lawmaker
Zainab Al-Bdoul said that she is “in favor
of extending the provisions of the defense order due to the difficult economic
situation following the COVID-19 pandemic, which left tens of thousands
citizens financially distressed.”
If jailed, they “will constitute a burden on the
prisons”, she told
Jordan News.
At the same time, “international laws prevents
imprisonment if a person is unable to pay his contractual obligations”, she said.
“The imprisonment of a debtor exacerbates the
problem and does not solve it,” she said. “If a debtor is freed, he is able to
work and honor his obligations.”
Member of Parliament
Saleh Al-Armouti told
Jordan
News that “the prime minister is expected to issue an order to extend the
defense order concerning debtor imprisonment until the end of this year.
He said the decision would be in view of the fact
that there are more than 100,000 creditors and not enough prisons for this huge
number, and in light of the difficult economic conditions we live in”.
“Personally, I would like to cancel all defense
orders, since the law should be the sole authority, and this power should not
pass on to the prime minister,” he said.
Another lawmaker,
Dina Al-Bashir, said that “what is
more important than extending the defense order regarding debtors is coming up
with a clear work strategy to get out of the economic crisis”.
Even if “the extension lasts for some months, for
example, this will not solve the root cause of the problem,” she said.
“There is a need for alternative solutions to help
creditors and advance the economy in a real and clear way, especially since the
creditor has become a debtor, too, due to the current economic conditions,” she
explained.
Senator
Talal Al-Shorofat told
Jordan News that “a recommendation that was issued by the Senate when approving the
Implementation Law included extending the provisions of Defense Order No. 28
until the end of the year to address the pressure arising from the economic conditions”.
“I support the extension of the defense order for
this purpose, complemented by other strategic plans, not only to solve the
problem, but also to develop real solutions that work, to do justice to both
the creditor and the debtor,” he added.
“More effective solutions must be developed for this
matter, especially since the solutions provided by the implementation law may
not be sufficient,” he said.
Advocate
Hassan Al-Hattab, the International
Committee for Human Rights, Geneva envoy to Jordan, told
Jordan News that “the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the economic situation in
Jordan and made the situation difficult for merchants and creditors.”
“This decision aims to create an easy and reasonable
way that enables the debtors to pay their debts”.
“An extension falls within the public interest and
is in accordance with the social and legal foundations by giving the debtor
another chance to pay his debts,” he added.
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