His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday attended the opening ceremony of the Second Judicial Conference, during which a social solidarity fund for judges and judicial aides was launched to support workers in the sector.

During his address at the conference Monday, Chairman of the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) and President of the Court of Cassation Rateb Wazani said that King Abdullah had instructed the government earlier in the day to take all necessary measures to establish the fund as part of the national strategy to develop the judiciary.

He also announced the launch of the 2010-12 judicial development strategy with the participation of the Jordanian judiciary as well as judges and justice ministers from several Arab and foreign countries.

The strategy, to be discussed during the two-day conference, entails enacting programmes to provide legal and administrative systems to support the Cassation Court, as well as distributing caseloads among different courts to alleviate the burden on the Cassation Court and Court of Appeals, among other reforms.

Wazani underlined that since the First Judicial Conference, held in 2004, the HJC has implemented King Abdullah's vision to provide judges with the required tools to perform their duties.

The HJC president said 750 judges currently work in the Kingdom's judicial system, 48 of them women, noting that an additional 20 female judges will graduate from the Judicial Institute and be appointed this year.

He added that the “Future Judges” programme, launched in 2007, aims to upgrade the judicial system and attract distinguished students from Jordan and abroad, noting that the number of students enrolled in the programme has reached 166.

Minister of Justice Ayman Odeh said the national strategy to develop the Kingdom's judiciary also includes action plans to develop the criminal justice system.

The strategy includes five components: Enhancing the independence and integrity of the judiciary, attracting distinguished staff to develop law courses at Jordanian universities, expediting litigation procedures, developing legal services and enhancing cooperation among stakeholders.

The judicial reform process was initiated in parallel with the 2002-2004 Socio-Economic Transformation Plan to enhance the efficiency of the judiciary and reduce legal transaction costs for citizens and businesses alike by enhancing the court system, strengthening its autonomy, training judges and lawyers, establishing an integrated information system network and ensuring transparency.

The plan, which continued after the initial programme was completed as part of the 2004-2006 Judicial Upgrading Strategy, has seen the construction of new courts in Amman and the other governorates, computerisation of the litigation process and electronic interconnectivity among courts, and the introduction of the concept of mediation in lawsuits, among other reforms.