Legislation: Corruption is criminalised in Jordan and active corruption is penalised under article 172 of the Penal Code of 1970. Jordan has an Anti-Corruption Commission Law (in Arabic) which was enacted in December 2006. This law defines corruption not only as misuse of power and economic crime, but it also includes actions related to wasta and nepotism. A Financial Disclosure Law published in the official gazette in November 2006, stipulates that specified government officials must disclose their assets in a sealed envelope that is to be opened by the Chief Justice in case of complaint. The Jordanian Parliament also passed an Access to Information Law in April 2007, although this is somewhat restricted by the State Secret and Documents Law. Furthermore, an Anti-Money Laundering Law was passed on 6 May 2007. Jordan ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption in February 2007. Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Jordan. A new competition law is expected to be passed in Parliament in 2011. The US Department of State 2011 states that the law, which is a modified version of the Competition Law of 2004, aims to attract foreign investment and protect small- and medium -sized businesses from restrictive anti-competitive practices. In 2010, Jordan amended the Anti-Money Laundering Law in order to include areas of non-compliance.

Government Strategies: In August 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) published the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2008-2012, which was prepared by the ACC in coordination with the Planning Ministry and a group of experts provided by the EU. The strategy comprises several components such as strengthening the capacity of the ACC, simplifying the business environment, reforming the public sector, training of public officials, awareness raising and reviewing anti-corruption legislation, and an action plan to implement the strategy has been made. In line with the stipulations of the strategy a coordination committee has been established, including members of the ACC, the Ombudsman Institution and the Audit Bureau who shall secure greater cooperation between the three institutions. To avoid corruption on governmental level, the former Rifai government signed a Code of Conduct based on the constitution and the law. The Code of Conduct requires ministers to put aside personal interests when performing their duties, to submit a financial disclosure statement and it forbids them to hold seats on the board of private companies, to take part in commercial or financial business or to receive any salary from a third part. Ex-Prime Minister Samir Rafai announced in January 2011, that the government would provide JOD 160 million in salary increase to pensioners and workers in the civil and military services as well as to municipality and public companies´ employees. He also confirmed that the government had initiated serious discussions with private sector to create a national fund in order to support low-wage workers in the private sector. In a serious attempt to minimize bureaucracy, the Prime Minister stated that municipalities are to be merged in order to shorten administrative processes.

Anti-Corruption Agencies: The Anti-Corruption Commission Law calls for the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The members of the ACC were appointed in March 2007. The law stipulates that the ACC must be financially and administratively independent and conduct its work free from executive interference. The ACC has issued a statement saying that it will concentrate on investigating allegations of misuse of public funds. It is supposed to issue an annual report on its work. According to Global Integrity 2009, no reports have been issued so far, and it is reported that the ACC is not entirely free from political interference in practice. According to the US Department of State 2011, the ACC prosecuted its first case in 2010 and has several other cases under investigation. In an April 2011 article in Jordan Times, the Anti-Corruption Agency president states that more than 41% of the cases looked into by the Commission focus on exploitation of public post, 11% of them were focus on forgery, 10% on embezzlement of public money, 8,2% on abuse of office and 4% on fraud. The ACC president, Samih Bino, states that the commission is directing its efforts towards addressing the roots of corruption such as the complicated legislation and weak anti-corruption investigations, thus minimizing the potential of corrupt behaviour. He also notes that the number of corruption cases in 2010 grew to 890 which made efforts to fight the former imperative. Some local observers, however, are still sceptical about the effectiveness the ACC due to the limited amount of investigations involving senior officials or large government projects despite allegations of corruption.

General Intelligence Directorate (GID): The GID also has an anti-corruption office, the Anti-Corruption Directorate, which is in charge of dealing with cases of extortion, bribery and corruption. The GID has itself been involved in numerous scandals, but there were no major corruption indictments in 2004 and 2005.

Office of the Ombudsman: The Ombudsman institution is newly created in Jordan (end of 2008) and its activities were set to start in February 2009. According to Global Integrity 2009, the institution is not fully protected from political interference since the Ombudsman is nominated by the Prime Minister. Several other organisations carry out the functions of the national ombudsman, such as the National Center for Human Rights and the Higher Council for Media, which acts as ombudsman for media issues and the Audit Bureau (see below). The National Center for Human Rights and the Higher Media Council do enjoy political independence, but their ability to remain independent depends on the character and strength of the president of each entity.

Auditor-General: The Audit Bureau of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the main audit institution. It was established by Law 28 of 1952. The Audit Bureau is an independent institution - both financially and administratively - within the government. It monitors government earnings and expenditures at various levels, namely the ministerial, public enterprises, local authorities, municipalities and rural councils. The agency submits a bimonthly report to the cabinet and a yearly report to the lower office of the Parliament with its finding. According to Global Integrity 2009, the Auditor General is, however, not mandated to launch investigations on its own and observers have noted that the government has not acted upon the Auditor General's findings.

E-Governance: Initiatives in the area of e-governance have contributed to rendering government services more transparent and more accessible. The US Department of State 2011 reports that the government has slowly but gradually been implementing its e-government promotion strategy in 2010. Several programs as well as a call centre are now available as a response to the government's promise of making public services, regulations and procurement procedures more transparent. Companies will find numerous government websites providing them with useful information on regulations, services offered by the government and different government bodies.

Public Procurement: Public procurement of all government departments is regulated by the General Supplies Department of the Ministry of Finance (Supply Act 32 of 1993). In law there is a requirement of competitive bidding, but information about tenders is not always disseminated to the private sector. Unsuccessful bidders may challenge the procurement decision through a court case. According to Global Integrity 2009, bidders who violate the procurement regulations (and who are convicted by a court ruling) by engaging in corrupt practices to influence the procurement decision will be prohibited from bidding in the future. However, observers report that there are very few examples of this. Furthermore, the US Department of State 2009 reports that influence peddling and lack of transparency in government procurement exists. Jordan has a centralised tendering office where tenders are publicised.

Whistle-Blowing: The Anti-Corruption Commission Law 62/2006 only provides for indirect protection of whistleblowers by stipulating that the information and documentation the latter provide may be secret. According to the President of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), whistleblowers that address the ACC need not fear repercussions. However, there are concerns whether whistleblowers protection will be upheld in practice, especially since it is commonly known in Jordan that complaining about an influential person or family often lead to recriminations. It remains to be seen if the ACC will be able to enforce whistleblower protection in practice.

General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: The political will in Jordan for countering corruption is generally strong. Jordan is in the process of implementing the provisions set out by the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), such as the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, protection of whistleblowers and freedom of information laws. All three initiatives have been formally established, but it is too early to verify how they work in practice and how far-reaching their scope of action and impact will be. However, the demonstrations that have taken place in Jordan, throughout the beginning of 2011, clearly convey public discontent with corruption levels in the government. Thus, fighting corruption is now a priority on the political agenda.