Senate committee strips attacks on public employees from general pardon bill

AMMAN — The Senate’s Legal Committee on Wednesday decided not to include crimes against authorities in the general pardon draft law, specifically crimes related to attacking public employees.

The panel said the decision sought to preserve the status of the state and limit attacks on public employees, especially since legal rights in such cases usually fall to the state rather than the victims, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

During a meeting to discuss the bill, the committee members approved excluding articles 7, 8, 9 and 12/A of the Drugs Law from the draft law, attributing the decision to the recent increase in drug abuse cases.

On crimes related to the Water and Electricity Law, the members stipulated that violators would be included in the draft law if personal rights are dropped in such cases, saying that violations of the law have increased.

As for foreigners residing in the Kingdom who violated the residency and foreigners affairs laws, the panel members stipulated that these violators should rectify their status within 90 days of the date the law goes into effect to be exempted from fines.

During the meeting, Senate President Faisal Fayez said that the Upper House is keen on setting constraints that preserve the rights of all parties, by achieving a balance between the rights of perpetrators and victims. 

The Senate is scheduled to hold a meeting today to discuss the decisions of its Legal Committee, and if its members agree on the panel’s decisions, the bill will be referred to the Lower House for consideration. 

The Lower House on Monday had endorsed the version of the general pardon draft law granting full exemptions from fines, penalties and disciplinary measures to all crimes and violations committed before His Majesty’s directives to the government on December 13, 2018.