Lower House refers three draft laws to committee, including controversial cybercrime amendment

AMMAN — In the final meeting of its current extraordinary session, the Lower House on Thursday referred three draft laws to its Legal Committee, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The House referred the 2018 amendments to the Cybercrime Law to the committee, with urgency, after it raised contention among deputies regarding its impacts on expression and media freedoms.

The bill deals with misuses of telecommunication means and cybercrimes related to damaging the national unity, blackmail and fraud, and the draft law also adds new acts as cybercrimes and stiffens penalties on others. 

The panel also received the draft law amending the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Law, which seeks to “strengthen the independence of the Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission board’s chairman and members”, as this is necessary to “enhance public confidence in the commission’s outputs and its preventive and proactive role to combat corruption”.

The Lower House referred the draft law amending the Illicit Gains Law, which aims to expand the scope of the categories subject to the provisions of Illicit Gains Law.

Amendments seek to add the heads and members of municipalities’ temporary committees, executive directors and the heads and members of the governorate councils to the categories subject to the law.

It also aims at improving the efficiency of the financial disclosure department and instilling the concept of liability in case of job abuse.

Also on Thursday, the Senate concluded the meetings of the extraordinary session by endorsing the 2018 civil retirement draft law as referred from the Lower Chamber, according to Petra. 

Senators agreed on MPs’ decision to raise the public service requirements from seven to 10 years for ministers seeking lifetime pensions. 

The Senate also endorsed the Lower House’s addition to public service in “Constitutional institutions” for ministers to be eligible for pensions.