Defence Order No. 28 on debtor imprisonment extended until April 30

AMMAN — Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Khasawneh on Tuesday amended the provisions of Defence Order No. 28 of 2021, issued under Defence Law No. 13 of 1992, on the imprisonment of debt defaulters, extending the order until April 30, 2023.

Before the amendment of Article 1 of the defence order, debt defaulters would be jailed if they borrowed sums exceeding JD100,000. The amendment lowered the maximum threshold for imprisonment to JD20,000, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Article 2 of the same defence order, related to the imprisonment of those who have issued bad cheques, has also been amended, jailing those who write fraudulent cheques or cheques with insufficient funds for an amount of up to JD20,000, down from JD100,000 before the amendment was issued.

The total number of people wanted in civil debt cases is 157,367, including 137,715 people whose debt is less than JD20,000. 

Under the amended article, a total of 19,652 defaulters whose debts exceed JD20,000 will face imprisonment. 

A total of 30,669 people are wanted for issuing badcheques, 13,151 of whom issued bad chequesworth over JD20,000.