Conference on community-based alternatives inaugurated in Amman

AMMAN — Deputising for Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni on Tuesday inaugurated the national conference on community-based alternatives to court and juvenile justice systems, organised in cooperation with Penal Reform International.

Talhouni said that Jordan started applying the community-based alternatives following the amendments to the Penal Code in 2017 which include a number of approaches ranging from early intervention, diversion, community service and rehabilitation programmes.

He also said that the community-based alternatives are applied to avoid the intermingling of people convicted in freedom-depriving short-term penalties with convicted felons.

The regional director for penal reform, Taghreed Jaber, said that the organisation works to implement human rights principles and eliminate all forms of discrimination, as well as encourage the application of community-based alternatives to prison terms and freedom-depriving penalties.