Judicial Review and the Jordanian Constitutional Court: False Start or Slow Start?

Judicial review of the constitutionality of legislation has moved in recent decades from being the exception to the rule among Arab states. Not only has it spread, but contests about adjudication of constitutional disputes have become much more prominent and political reform efforts have sometimes included a great emphasis on establishing or strengthening constitutional courts. In Jordan, longstanding calls for a constitutional court were finally met in 2011 and the Jordanian Constitutional Court began operating the following year. This article traces the background to establishing the court and analyzes its structure. It then assesses the Jordanian Constitutional Court in operation, first by examining its short history and then by analyzing why its emergence as a judicial actor has been slow and uneven and how this might be changed.