Assessment of the Juvenile Justice system & the Situation of Children in Conflict with the Law in Jordan

This assessment sheds light on Juvenile Justice system in Jordan, its constituent elements, its strengths, shortcomings and opportunities to inform the design and development of a project proposal to better respond to the rights and needs of young offenders. It had been used to inform the design, development and implementation of a project aimed at better responding to the rights and needs of young people in conflict with the law. This paper highlights several gaps and shortcomings that shall be taken into account when dealing with juvenile justice in Jordan. Problems are multiple and inter-linked and findings show that the most prominent problems and significant gaps in the current juvenile justice system throughout the country include: the absence of a separate specialized formal legal system dedicated to responding to needs’ children; insufficient numbers of qualified experienced staff; lack of coordination and communication between juvenile justice actors; the lack of alternatives to custody in the Jordanian system together with a weak network of juvenile justice local NGOs and network of community-based support; inadequate care and psychosocial programming during pre-trial detention and ‘closed’ rehabilitation.