Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

Arbitration in Jordan: Legal Framework and Practical Considerations

This article outlines Jordan’s general arbitration framework, from the arbitration agreement and tribunal constitution to proceedings, challenge, and enforcement, while highlighting issues that require fact-specific review. It is general information and not a substitute for advice from a Jordanian lawyer on a particular dispute or step.

Updated: 10 September 2026

Prepared and reviewed by: Ashraf Al-Khawaja

1. What Arbitration Is and the Applicable Framework

Arbitration is a consensual method of referring an existing or future dispute to a private tribunal rather than having it determined initially by the courts, while leaving the judiciary a supporting and supervisory role in the situations defined by law. Under the consolidated text of Jordan’s Arbitration Law No. 31 of 2001 and its amendments published by WIPO Lex, the statute applies to consensual arbitration conducted in Jordan and to arbitration that the parties agree to submit to the statute, where the dispute is civil or commercial and arises from a contractual or non-contractual relationship between public-law or private-law persons. The statute also limits court intervention to the cases it specifies, while allowing targeted judicial assistance, such as summoning a witness or expert or obtaining a document. The Jordan International Arbitration Center JIAC guide presents the same framework through provisions addressing the agreement, tribunal, procedure, award, annulment, and enforcement. Accordingly, calling a dispute commercial is not enough by itself; the seat, clause wording, selected rules, applicable law, and the parties’ status may all affect the analysis.

2. The Arbitration Agreement and Tribunal Constitution

Jordanian law requires an arbitration agreement to be in writing. This includes a signed document and paper or electronic communications whose delivery is established; a written agreement may also arise where a contract incorporates another document containing an arbitration clause, unless the parties expressly exclude it. The agreement may precede the dispute or be made after it arises, but a post-dispute agreement must identify the subject matter precisely. Matters that cannot legally be settled may not be submitted to arbitration. If court proceedings are brought over a dispute covered by an arbitration agreement, the defendant may request referral subject to the relevant procedural conditions; this rule appears in the Arabic version of the statute cited below. The amended wording also contains an important contract-related rule: it treats prior arbitration agreements as void in employment contracts and in consumer contracts prepared on preprinted forms, as reflected in the Arabic text and the professional explanation of the amendments by Al Tamimi. Whether that rule applies in a particular case depends on the contract, the date of the agreement, transitional provisions, and the facts; it should not be applied mechanically. The parties may agree on one or more arbitrators. If they do not agree on the number, the statutory default is three, and a multi-member tribunal must have an odd number of arbitrators. The law provides appointment mechanisms where a party fails to act or the arbitrators cannot agree, and gives the competent judge a supporting role in specified circumstances. An arbitrator must disclose circumstances that could raise serious doubts about impartiality or independence, and a challenge may be pursued through the statutory procedure.

3. Conduct of the Proceedings and the Award

The parties may agree on procedural rules, including the rules of an arbitration center inside or outside Jordan, subject to mandatory provisions of the law. In the absence of sufficient agreement, the tribunal manages the proceedings as needed for their proper conduct. It must observe impartiality and equality, give each party a full opportunity to present its case, defence, and evidence, and avoid unjustified delay and unnecessary expense; these principles appear in the statutory text published by WIPO Lex. The default language is Arabic unless the parties agree, or the tribunal decides, to use another language. Modern communications may be used, and witnesses or experts may be heard through technological means where the tribunal considers that appropriate. Pleadings, documents, and reports should be exchanged with the other party, while the tribunal retains authority to organize hearings, expert work, and inspections. A party’s failure to appear does not automatically amount to an admission, although the tribunal may continue and decide on the material available under the law. The award should remain within the arbitration agreement and the parties’ submissions and respect their opportunity to be heard, in addition to meeting the statutory form and content requirements. An arbitral award has res judicata effect and is enforceable subject to the law, but that effect does not remove the statutory review mechanisms for annulment or enforcement.

4. Annulment, Enforcement, and Practical Caveats

An application to annul an award is not an ordinary appeal for re-weighing evidence or replacing the tribunal’s assessment; it is a limited supervisory route governed by the Arbitration Law. The Arabic version of the statute, together with Al Tamimi’s professional account of the 2018 amendments, identifies the Court of Cassation as the competent court for an annulment action under the amended framework. Before selecting a remedy, counsel should therefore examine service, tribunal constitution, the scope and validity of the arbitration agreement, due process, public policy, and other statutory issues; the existence of a clause alone does not predict the result. For an award issued in an arbitration governed by Jordanian law, the Arabic text states that an enforcement application is accompanied by the arbitration agreement, the original award or a signed copy, and a certified Arabic translation if the award was issued in another language. Under that text, the court may examine public-policy compatibility and proper service on the respondent; rejection of enforcement does not by itself extinguish the arbitration agreement unless the agreement itself was invalid. A foreign award follows a route affected by the seat, governing law, and applicable treaties. The United Nations Treaty Collection records Jordan as a party to the New York Convention and lists a Jordanian reservation concerning awards made by Israel or involving an Israeli party. A professional article published by Chambers and Partners explains that a foreign award does not operate automatically in Jordan: recognition and enforcement must be sought, and matters such as proper notice, final and binding effect, and public policy remain relevant to the court’s review. This is general educational information, not a legal opinion or a definitive prediction. The outcome depends on the facts, the arbitration agreement, the seat, and the law in force at the relevant time. A qualified Jordanian lawyer should be consulted before signing an arbitration clause, commencing arbitration, seeking annulment, or pursuing enforcement, and no particular result is guaranteed.

Notice: this article is general educational information and does not constitute legal advice or a final assessment of any matter.

Sources and references

Verify the official text and latest amendments before relying on this material professionally.