AMMAN — Lawmakers on Wednesday rejected amendments to the
Audit Bureau’s bill granting the head of the bureau law enforcement status.
Members of Parliament also returned the
Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission bill to the legal committee for further study.
اضافة اعلان
MPs voted to delete article 6 of the bill which includes two
points; the first granting the status of law enforcement to the head of the
Audit Bureau and the second forbidding the prosecution, arresting, conducting
any investigations against, or filing any criminal or civil lawsuit against any
of the Bureau’s employees, as a result of any act related to their duties,
except after informing the president of the bureau, unless the employee is
arrested in flagrante delicto (i.e. in the act of committing the crime).
MP Abdul Kareem Al-Dughmi described granting the law
enforcement status to the head of the Audit Bureau as “belittling” them. As for
the provision that prevents prosecution of any of the Bureau’s employees,
Dughmi framed it as “unconstitutional”, citing that it violates Article 102.
Article 102 of the Constitution stipulates that “the civil
courts in the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan shall have jurisdiction over all
persons in all matters, civil and criminal, including cases brought by or
against the government, except those matters in respect of which jurisdiction
is vested in religious or special courts, in accordance with the provisions of
the present Constitution or any other.”
Hilda Ajeilat, the executive manager of Jordan Transparency
Center, emphasized to Jordan News the importance of the Audit Bureau as a
regulating entity that controls and saves public money.
Ajeilat expressed her support for the representative’s
decision to deny the article which prevents prosecution of any of the bureau’s
employees while describing the rejection of the article that grants law
enforcement powers to the head of the Audit Bureau as a “partially good
decision,” since the status must be given to a number of the bureau’s employees
at the bare minimum.
Meanwhile, MPs voted to return the Integrity and
Anti-Corruption Commission bill to the legal committee in order to re-focus the
content of the bill. This decision was based on a memorandum signed by many
representatives.
Read more national news
.jpg)
.jpg)
