Rule of law

Al Ghad has been covering the issue of health worker safety at public health facilities for the last couple of days. It seems that relatives accompanying patients are getting the impression that they are free to be rough with the doctors and nurses, as a way of showing concern for the patient. In the latest incident, a doctor was hospitalized after being beaten by relatives of a patient. This has been an ongoing issue that seems to be increasing in severity. Naturally, the Jordanian Medical Association wants something to be done about this.

The problem with the rule of law in Jordan is that there are actually two parallel laws, the official codes and the tribal codes. Invariably, after a doctor is beaten or a child is run over by a careless driver, the family of the perpetrator asks for an a'tweh (sort of a tribal truce) from the family of the victim, which eventually leads to a long process by which there is a sulhah (tribal reconciliation). While the victims' families might resist a sulhah, for the sake of justice to the victim, they typically succumb to the social pressure and agree to the reconciliation. When this happens, the victims family drops formal charges against the perpetrator, and the prosecutors office drops the case in court.

Now, it occurs to me that the only misdemeanors that get punished rigorously in Jordan are traffic violations. If the police catch you speeding, no amount of humanitarian appeal would sway them from giving you the ticket (unless you are a hot chick). But for the most part, if you are given a ticket, you pay.

Most Jordanians realize that the rigor which is used in traffic violations is a way to collect money. So, it seems to me that the only way to enforce the rule of law would to make it beneficial to government coffers. Thus, if somebody assaults a doctor in a clinic, and the punishment is a flat 1000 dinars, then you would see that the prosecutors' office wouldn't drop the issue even if there is a sulhah. Currently, a jail sentence of a week or a month is not a particularly good incentive for the government to punish the perpetrators. Prisoners in jail cost money. Better make them pay a hefty fine. Justice is served, the perp is punished painfully and the government makes some money. The same could be true for damage caused by reckless driving. The victims family can forfeit their rights, but the government would have no incentive to drop the matter .