Foundation experts delivered workshops to build the capacity of court clerks and administrative staff of the courts in Zarqa, Jordan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Jordan, the Jordanian Judicial Council, and the First Instance Courts of Zarqa
The workshop took place on 5-6 April 2021 and was formally inaugurated by Bernhard Kampmann, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Hassan Alimat, Head of the Administration of the Zarqa Courts, HE Judge Hazem Mohammed Saeed, President of the Courts of First Instance of Zarqa and the Head of Project at the Max Planck Foundation.
The focus of the workshop was on training administrative staff of the First Instance Courts to ensure that their administrative and support roles to Judges of the Courts complied with and enhanced procedural fairness, access to information and access to justice for court users in Jordan. Specific topics included aspects of procedural fairness in civil and criminal court procedural rules and the role of administrative staff of the court to respect and uphold such rules, understanding the difference between legal information and legal advice, methods for public performance evaluations for courts and finally, conflicts of interest, confidentiality and non-disclosure policies.
Participants were invited to answer questions in the form of instant virtual polls to test their understanding and comprehension of the topics presented. Additionally, presentations at the end of each day were followed by practical exercises in which more complex scenarios were presented to participants to work through in virtual groups. These exercises strengthened participants’ understanding of the concepts discussed and their practical application, as well as highlighting gaps in internal policy and procedural regulations that demand further attention.
The workshop is a part of the project component to build the capacity of administrative staff and court clerks of the Courts in Balqa and Zarqa Governorates in Jordan, under the Foundation project, “Strengthening Legislative Compliance and Constitutional Interpretation in Jordan”, supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.