Al -Anbat - Maryam Al Kassim
Translated by ; Lima Zeitawi
Penalties depriving of liberty have become an essential part of the criminal justice system in Jordan and were introduced into the Penal Code in 2017, and the law was amended in 2022, where article 25 bis stipulates that 'the court in misdemeanours and based on the determination of social status except in cases of repetition may rule even if the judgment acquires the final degree with one or more alternatives.' The law has defined alternatives to 4 types, namely community service, community surveillance, electronic surveillance (electronic bracelet) and the prohibition of access to The convicted person has specific places for a period of not less than one month and not more than a year.
Ministry of Justice signed 14 memorandums of understanding with various ministries and the university, to implement alternative punishments to the penalty of deprivation of liberty such as teaching, blacksmithing, carpentry, agriculture and others, the latest of which was an agreement signed with the Ministry of Tourism.
Penalties reduce the effects of deprivation of liberty and judicial detention penalties for non-repeat persons, and achieve a preventive policy aimed at preventing their mixing with other detainees and convicts and preserving their livelihoods.
Dr. Mohammed Arabiyat talked about community punishments (alternative) saying that they are often not implemented in large penalties and may be in some acts and implemented against the perpetrator, pointing out that it is more appropriate to be the penalties that entail imprisonment, because if we look with the eyes of society we see that it is more deterred when it is in cases of detention, but at the same time in some matters that are very simple if we apply this issue to some violations, there is no doubt that we are asserting society in a way Specific.
He added that the investigation of some alternative punishments can be consistent with reality, especially in crimes that carry a penalty of less than 3 months, but crimes sentenced to more than 3 months in prison, it is better to apply the penalty according to the law.
The electronic bracelet is part of these penalties, where the electronic bracelet system has been in force since August 2022, where it was applied after the entry into force of the system of means and mechanisms for the implementation of alternatives to deprivation of liberty penalties No. (46) of 2022, and it is noted that approximately 20 cases of judicial arrest using the electronic bracelet have been applied. According to the law, it applies in two cases, 'an alternative to judicial arrest, which is one of the measures provided for in article 114/1 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure and taken by the judge or the public prosecutor except in cases of repetition in cases where arrest for misdemeanours is permissible so as to replace the arrest'.
The second case is 'an alternative to the penalties of deprivation of liberty, in misdemeanours except in the case of repetition even if the sentence acquires a final degree and based on the determination of the marital status, and in felonies not inflicted on persons except in cases of repetition when the mitigating reasons are used and the sentence is reduced to one year'.
