2009 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

A number of key agencies contributing to Jordan's national anti-corruption framework have been redesigned during the past few years with mixed results. For example, an ombudsman's office was established in 2008; however, it has only taken on low-level cases to date. Fearful of political interference after the head of the Audit Bureau was recently removed from office, the newly created anti-corruption commission has been slow to act or issue reports. Meanwhile, the Jordanian Foundation for Investment, the agency responsible for oversight of state-owned enterprises, was abolished in favor of ministerial-level monitoring with less transparent oversight practices. A new citizen right to information law in Jordan is a promising step forward for the region. In practice, however, citizen access to key documents such as asset disclosure forms submitted by government officials, financial records of state-owned companies, and reports from both the anti-corruption commission and the ombudsman's office is limited. Citizens are unlikely to turn to the courts to appeal their right to access these documents due to long delays in the appeals process and the high legal costs involved.