Feachers of the Jordanian legislator in the Cybercrimes Law of 2023#

Abstract

The emergence of cybercrimes necessitated the existence
of legislative texts criminalizing such acts, in respect for and
application of the principle of legality, which states that there
is no crime or punishment except by a legislative text.
Previously, the Penal Code was applied to any crime
committed in accordance with its provisions. However, if the
matter concerned the commission of a crime through means
of communication, the provisions of the Penal Code were
applied in conjunction with the provisions of the
Telecommunications Law No. 13 of 1995.
In the midst of technological and technical development, the
Jordanian legislator intervened for the first time with the
Temporary Information Systems Crimes Law of 2010, then
with the Electronic Crimes Law of 2015 which replaced it,
and then recently the Electronic Crimes Law No. 17 of 2023
was issued. With the last law, the legislator reached a stage
in which it became clear that he followed two approaches in
dealing with electronic crimes: the approach of special text, which is represented by
creating special texts for some electronic crimes, and the approach of reference, which
means that the law refers to any other legislation that may be applied to a specific crime if
it is committed in an electronic way.
Conversely, several legislative observations have emerged regarding the legislator's policy
in enacting these laws. Therefore, this study examines the Jordanian legislator's policy in
addressing cybercrimes, highlighting the most prominent observations related to the
legislator's criminal policy in the Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023.