The final stage of the “Administrative Structuring of the Environmental Justice Sector in Jordan” project, which was launched in mid-2022, has been concluded. The project aimed to enhance the rule of environmental law in Jordan by supporting the civil, criminal and administrative judiciary and other supporting agencies to contribute to enhancing the appropriate judicial environment, creating an effective institutional structure and providing trained judicial cadres specialized in environmental issues and improving and strengthening the capacities of lawyers in pleading mechanisms before the judiciary in environmental matters. The projects was supported by the French Embassy and implemented by the National Center for Environmental Justice (NCEJ) in two stages. The first stage aimed at training and empowering a group of lawyers on how to plead in environmental cases before the Jordanian judiciary, and one of its key results was to increase the knowledge of practicing lawyers about the features and characteristics of environmental lawsuits and cases and their legal procedures, and to inform them on the legislation regulating environmental protection in Jordan and how to use it to plead before the Jordanian judiciary by providing practical training on that. The second stage aimed to consolidate the foundations of litigation in environmental cases and the practical practices of judges and public prosecutors in dealing with environmental issues. This phase included highlighting the role of the Jordanian judiciary in addressing environmental crimes through discussion and analysis of the legislative frameworks regulating the protection of the environment in Jordan and the specificity of civil liability for environmental damage and the difficulties in proving them. Among key results and recommendations of this phase was the need to prepare a procedural guide for the work of the judicial police and a guide for judges to facilitate litigation procedures in environmental cases, in addition to the need to intensify formal and informal efforts to address environmental crimes by communicating this experience to the rest of the Kingdom’s governorates. NCEJ Chairman, Mohammad Eyadat, commended the support of the French Embassy in Jordan for the project, which constitutes a projects that have a direct impact on protecting the environment in Jordan by highlighting the role of litigation in protecting the environment and its importance in acknowledging environmental rights. Eyadat also lauded the role of the Judicial Council, which effectively contributed to the success of this project, highlighting the role of the Jordanian judiciary in addressing environmental issues. In turn, the judicial and legal attaché at the French Embassy, Emilie Desormiere, distributed certificates of appreciation to the project participants.
Source: Jordan News Agency