Private Law, Public Justice: Another Look at Imprisonment for Debt under the Jordanian Law

Debtors' imprisonment in Jordan is a problematic issue since it impinges upon required financial guarantees that are presumably offered by debtors on the one hand, and infringes flagrantly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the other hand. Jordan lacks regulatory provisions in this respect and debtors' imprisonment is indirectly exercised in Jordan without giving a special legal attention to this concern. From this perspective, this research reviews the available regulations, standard laws and codes of conduct that might guide the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Jordanian context. Furthermore, this article will examine the suitability of the Jordanian legal system in providing sufficient protection for debtors. The author argues that there are serious obstacles in this aspect.

• Haitham A. Haloush

• The Jordanian Civil Code
• the Jordanian Execution Law
• imprisonment for debt
• good faith
• the Jordanian Constitution
• the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

[1] The Jordanian Judicial Council, available online at <http://www.jc.jo/en>, last visited on the 1st of November 2020.
[2] The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution No. 2200 on December 16 1966. Entered into force as of March 23, 1976, published in the Jordanian Official Gazette No. 4764 (2006).
[3] The Jordanian Execution Law No. 25 of 2007, published in the Jordanian Official Gazette No. 4821 (2007).
[4] Haloush, H., "Rethinking traditional approaches of parties' autonomy in construction contracts: decennial liability as a case study", (2020) 62(6) International Journal of Law and Management 577.
[5] Ballantyne, W., Commercial Law in the Arab Middle East: The Gulf States (Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., London, 1986) 4.
[6] Khallaf, A., the Origins of Moslem Jurisprudence (1stedition, Arabic Torath Press, Cairo, Egypt, 1978) 34.
[7] Hisham, R., The Jordan Civil Code of Moslem Jurisprudence (1st edition, Al-tawfiq Printing Press, Amman, Jordan, 1990) 3.
[8] The Jordanian Constitution of 1965, published in the Jordanian Official Gazette No. 1831 (1965).
[9] The Jordanian Court of Cassation, Case No. 936/1993.
[10] The Jordanian Court of Cassation, Case No. 2426/1999.
[11] The Jordanian Court of Cassation, Case No. 818/2003.
[12] The Jordanian Court of Cassation, Case No. 4309/2003.
[13] The Jordanian Court of Cassation, Case No. 2353/2007.
[14] The Jordanian Civil Code No. 1 of 1976, published in the Jordanian Official Gazette No. 2645 (1976).