Legislation bureau launches new website, enhancing public access, interactivity

AMMAN — The government on Wednesday stressed the importance of the Legislation and Opinion Bureau's (LOB) role in drafting laws, bylaws and defence orders with the accuracy and speed required.

Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Omar Razzaz, during his visit to the bureau, said that the 16 defence orders that were issued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have handled the social protection network, citizens' health and secure economic facilities and workers.

The premier, during his visit attended the launch of the LOB's new website www.lob.gov.jo, developed to computerise and categorise the Kingdom's legislation to allow public interactivity, as well as to receive citizens' notes on draft legislation to be displayed online for a period of no less than 10 days, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The website provides a free access to legislative content and various stages of legislation, starting from the draft legalisation until publishing it in the Official Gazette. 

The premier also expressed pride in the LOB's "prominent" role in protecting public money and citizens' health, noting that the bureau's legalisation will be submitted to the upcoming Parliament to be endorsed, notably the Anti-Money Laundering Law and Illicit Gains Law, which include articles to monitor any unjustified wealth periodically. 

The legalisation also included enhancing the independence of the Audit Bureau and the Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC), two institutions that have a major role in protecting public money, Razzaz added.

Razzaz noted that the legislations will ensure the protection of public money in terms of legislative, executive and supervisory aspects.

He also touched on the Quality and Consumer Protection Law of 2020, approved several days ago, stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic has proved that Jordan has "effective" monitoring institutions in protecting consumer health and quality of goods and products, Petra reported.

Some shortcomings in the responsibilities of different parties have emerged, which required reconsidering the system, and merging a group of institutions under "a unified umbrella" to protect consumers' health and price competitiveness, to prevent monopoly in the local market, the premier added.

A total of 423 pieces of legislation, including 91 laws and 332 bylaws, have been endorsed during the tenure of the current government, Head of the LOB Fida Hammoud said.