By Maria Font de Matas
AMMAN - HRH Prince Hassan on Wednesday
called for making the rule of law accessible
to underprivileged citizens in Islamic
countries.
As ways of achieving this goal, Prince
Hassan supported the idea of using
textbooks, visual arts, conferences and mass
media to transmit the concept and help raise
the level of awareness of the poor.
The Prince made the remarks at the
opening session of an international
conference entitled “Religion and the Rule
of Law in the Near East,” organised by the
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies
(RIIFS) and the Regional Programme Near
East/Mediterranean of the German Konrad
Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
With regards to Sharia (Islamic law), the
Prince referred to it as a “flowing river”
that should not stop at a particular period.
“Sharia has to regulate aspects of a
Muslim’s personal life, but not all aspects
of life,” he explained.
“The complementation of political,
religious and legal issues is fundamental
nowadays. Otherwise, we would contribute to
the arena of political hatred, based on
nihilism”, said the Prince, who is chairman
of the RIIFS board of trustees.
“What citizens want to see are their
rights actively protected, not just
mentioned and recognised,” he added.
Religious experts, politicians, lawyers
and representatives of international
organisations from Jordan, Germany, Qatar,
Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia,
Belgium and France gathered in Amman for the
two-day conference to discuss ways to
reconcile religion and the democratic
principle of rule of the law in Islamic
countries.
Citing His Majesty King Abdullah’s
remarks on the subject, Minister of
Political Development and Minister of State
for Legal Affairs Kamal Nasser described
education and judiciary as the “two basic
pillars for the future of democracy,
political and economical reform and
sustainable and comprehensive development”.
Nasser also referred to the establishing
of an Ombudsman Bureau, as a mechanism for
citizens “to monitor the performance of the
executive branch”.
The bureau, which will enjoy complete
financial and administrative independence,
will be headquartered in Amman, with
branches in various parts of the Kingdom.
Tasked with monitoring the performance of
public institutions, the bureau is seen as a
necessary tool for public sector reform.
