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Ammon News - Minister of Justice, Bassam Talhouni, and Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Jordan, Maria Hadjitheodosiou, met Monday for a discussion on cooperation in the justice sector within the framework of the "Supporting the Rule of Law in Jordan" program, which amounted to 50 million euros.

The EU continues to support the government's efforts to strengthen the rule of law which is essential to consolidate a democratic society, as a second payment of 9 million euros was recently made available as part of this ongoing support, the ministry said in a statement.

Talhouni lauded the EU’s continued support for the government's efforts on the rule of law, pointing out that the European Union has provided the necessary support for the implementation of the rule of law support program through the budget funded by the EU for 2018-2021.

He stressed that the ministry and partners have worked on implementing projects and achieving indicators related to the grant for supporting the Judicial Council and the independence of the judiciary and increasing specialized training for judges, in addition to e-connecting projects between the ministry and the Public Security Directorate (PSD), which included linking all police departments with the public prosecution departments in the Kingdom, as well as the remote trial project, improving the rate of execution of judicial orders and rulings, strengthening the community penalties and legal aid systems, in addition to implementing the ministry's investment plan by establishing the Amman Criminal Court building and the Jerash Palace of Justice building, as requirements of the first and second batches were met.

Hadjitheodosiou stressed the importance of maintaining the positive momentum in reforms, strengthening the current free legal aid system and undertaking legislative reforms to increase citizens' access to free legal representation in courts.

She pointed out to the importance of securing legal guarantees, including the right to have a lawyer at every stage of the criminal trial, and to develop alternatives to detention in relation to misdemeanors.

The ministry said that, through the EU's support program, there was a significant increase in the number of free legal aid services provided by the ministry and a positive increase in the number of judicial orders execution, and within the framework of this program, the EU and Jordan has developed a pilot program to rehabilitate drug addicts and prepare community alternatives for detention. The program also contributed to strengthening the IT services and physical court infrastructure.