Jordan king sets up constitutional court

King Abdallah of Jordan has as part of his reform initiatives set up a constitutional court comprising nine members, according to a royal decree published yesterday. The court, the first of its kind in the kingdom, will be the only one authorized to verify that laws comply with the constitution, the decree states. It is chaired by Taher Hekmat, a legal expert who heads the board of directors of the National Center for Human Rights. He and other members of the new court were sworn in before the king on Saturday. In a letter to members of the court, Abdallah stressed that the institution “offers an important guarantee of the separation of powers and respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens.” Hekmat for his part said a constitutional court had been demanded by a “good number of Jordanians,” referring to the Islamist opposition. The move comes after the king on Thursday dissolved Parliament and called early elections.