Legislation and Opinion Bureau

1
Legislation and Opinion Bureau

• On behalf of LOB
• Mais Khlaifat
• Assisstant Director/Legal Affairs Directorate
• Executive Privatization Commission

2
Responsibilities of the LOB

• Review and study any draft legislation, and
  modify it if deemed necessary
• Draft any legislation upon the request of the PM,
  however, that does not hinder their right in
  taking the initiative to suggest a new
  legislation or amendment to a current one.

3
Responsibilities of the LOB

• Participate in developing legislations in Jordan,
  prepare study papers and research, hold seminars
  and lectures
• provide legal opinions in issues presented to
  the LOB directly by ministries and other
  governmental bodies and local authorities
• Draft decisions and other regulatory instructions
  issued by the Cabinet
• Any other responsibilities that are related to
  legislation or legal issues

4
Steps taken by LOB

• Establish a (Legislative Data Unit) within LOB to
  build a data base for all legislative data that
  includes
• The constitution and related regulations in
  addition to resolutions of the High Council for
  Constitution interpretation.
• Laws and related regulations as well as
  resolutions of laws interpretation Bureau
• Instructions issued in relation to laws and
  regulations
• Legal consultations provided by LOB on various
  legal issues
• The parliament, Ministry of Justice and the
  Judicial Council has been given access to this
  data base

5
Steps taken by LOB

• In support of good governance and transparency
  principle LOB has founded a website which hosts
  all draft legislation submitted for LOB review,
  this website also allows commenting on draft
  legislation
• www.lob.gov.jo
• These comments and notes are taken into
  consideration when reviewing the draft
  legislation

6
Steps taken by LOB

• Review current legislation in light of
  continuously changing circumstances and new
  legislations to eliminate inconsistency and
  overlapping of legislation

7
Steps Needed

• Establish a legislation translation unit within
  LOB to allow LOB to learn and study international
  practices as well as translate Jordanian
  legislation the thing that results ultimately in
  uniformity in legislation method among all
  countries
• Establish an independent agency that deals with
  all legislation related issues including adopting
  legal terminology, ensuring that an article in a
  regulation does not contradict an article in a
  law.

8
Recommendations

• Establish an international legal data base which
  will enable members to learn about new
  developments in legislative drafting
• It is necessary for every legislative agency to
  have a unit that provides compelling reasons for
  a legislation as well as provides annotations
  that explains that legislation
• Facilitate study visits and training among
  participating countries which is a ley element in
  capacity building
• A mandatory legislative drafting course should be
  added to the curriculum of law school in
  universities

9
THANK YOU