7- Repealing Article 308 of the Penal Code was one of the recommendations accepted by
the Jordanian Government during the UPR review of the second national report in front of
UN Human Rights Council in 10/24/2013. Also the Center called for its abolition through
its subsequent Annual Reports on the Conditions of Human Rights for the years (20112014). However noting has been reported to this effect till now but there are pressures from
the center and the concerned SCOs to advocate for its abolition .
Paragraph (10 / A / B / C):
a. The criminal responsibility for juveniles according to the new Juvenile Law of 2014
became more in harmony with the international standards for the rights of the child,
which did state the right age for criminal responsibility for children, and left this
matter to be decide by states. In Jordan the previous criminal responsibility age was
7 years, but as of 2014 it become 12 years as stipulated in above mentioned Law.
b. In an unprecedented development, the new Juvenile Law of 2014 stipulates for
using alternative measures instead of incarceration and the deprivation of liberty.
As for, it has been announced, they are in the process of preparation in order to
activate the law. The Centers stresses in this respect, that judges and (after training
(55) specialist juvenile specialist judges on the implementation and the activation of
the new Law) are applying what they discern appropriately viable until the issuance
of the rules, and it has been found that the number of juveniles in one of the
Juvenile Detention Facilities (al Rusaifa) has dropped with the percentage (40%).
This is a good indicator because the exclusion and segregation of juveniles should
be a last resort and not the sole procedure.
c. As for the trial of juveniles before the juvenile courts, it is to be noted, that there are
in each Governorate a specialized juvenile court through allocating special court
rooms for this purpose within the premises of the regular adult courts. This
procedure is temporary until independent juvenile courts premises are made
available. The Center considers this is an appropriate procedure pending the
establishment of designated buildings for this purpose.
Paragraphs (12, 13 and 14):
12- Pursuant to the provisions of Articles (5, 10 / b) of the National Centre for Human
Rights Law No (51) for the year 2006, the Center formed a fact-finding team to monitor
and document the events took place at the Interior Ministry Circle in Amman on 24 -25
March, 2011. The team was formed in order to establish true facts and verify the extent of
compliance with all relevant international and national standards on human rights , that are
12