Jordanian Law Research Articles

The influence of the New Jordanian Income Tax Law Upon Collections

This research investigates the influence of the new Jordanian income tax law No. 14, 1995 (the revised edition of law No. (4), 1992) on tax revenues collections in Jordan. To this end, data were collected for the years 1996 and 1997 about tax files, (submitted) forms, imposed taxes and tax revenues. Two questionnaires were also used to collect data from tax officers and payers about the effects of tax installments, tax discounts, tax fines (for delayed payment), and tax officers’ periodic visits. One hundred and ninety questionnaires were distributed to a random sample of income tax officers, of which 180 were returned, while 25370 questionnaires were distributed to a random sample of tax payers, of which 25030 were returned and 25000 were fit for analysis. Responses were analyzed using means, t‐tests and percent changes. The results indicate the new income tax law should be further revised so as to maximize collection.

Jordan: Arbitration Law No. 31 of 2001

AbstractNo Abstract

Mut'atal-Talaq under Egyptian and Jordanian Law

Mut'atal-Talaq under Egyptian and Jordanian Law

Development plans in the West Bank

Development plans in the West Bank are prepared under the 1966 Jordanian law which requires regional, outline and detailed plans to be prepared and all development to have a building permit. The only approved regional plans are those prepared under the Mandate: these envisaged little growth and are used by the Israeli authorities as a pretext for refusing building permits almost everywhere outside the municipalities. Two “amendments” have been prepared (but not approved) by the Israelis and are being implemented: a plan which implicitly reserves extensive areas around Jerusalem for Jewish settlement, and a plan for a road network which would promote the integration of Israel and the West Bank, and sterilise development in large areas of the West Bank. Outline plans for hundreds of villages and municipalities have been drawn up, but hardly any have been approved. Consequently, no framework for the orderly and balanced development of Arab communities exists. There are no “development areas” outside municipalities (and few within them)to provide opportunities for Arab development, though the planning and development of new towns and villages for Israeli citizens of the Jewish faith continues apace.

Israeli Politics and the West Bank

Half a decade after the Six-Day War the Israeli government has made no decision about the future of the West Bank. The elections held in the West Bank's towns in early 1972, but under Jordanian law, were one example of the Jerusalem cabinet's inability to come to any decision and its determination to postpone decision for as long as possible. This determination reflects the complexity of the problem per se and the deep divisions within the Israeli polity on this subject. We will focus on the internal Israeli aspect.

The Syrian Law of Personal Status

This Law was promulgated under cover of Legislative Decree No. 59 of 17th September, 1953, during the Shishakly regime, and came into force on 1st November of the same year. It thus represents the latest development in the series of reforms in Shari'a law, as applied by the courts, which have appeared, one after the other, in the different countries of the Near East during the last few decades. The first major example—if we ignore legislation primarily concerned with matters of procedure—was provided by the Ottoman Law of Family Rights of 1917 which, short-lived though it proved in Turkey, was applied at the end of the First World War, with minor modifications, in Syria and Lebanon and, with further modifications, in Jordan. Next, there were the series of Egyptian reforms of 1920, 1929, 1923, 1943, and 1946—preceded, interspersed, and followed by similar, but much more piecemeal, innovations in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Then, as the immediate precursor of this Syrian Law, came the Jordanian Law of Personal Status of 1951—while a somewhat similar enactment has now been under consideration for a number of years in Iraq, but seems unlikely, for the present, to be promulgated.