• Jordan, who works fulltime as a journalist and does not work for any other publication, who is fluent in the language of the publication, and who has not been banned from practising journalism. Pursuant to Article 24, the editor-in-chief shall lose his or her position if he or she fails to respect the conditions of Article 23. Article 25: Specialised publications must have a responsible manager who is a Jordanian, who has not been convicted of “violating honour or morality”, and who has a degree in the area of specialisation or have at least five years of relevant experience, as approved by the Minister on the recommendation of the Director. Many of these conditions are problematical and/or unnecessary. The conditions in Articles 16, 23 and 25 relating to qualifications, expertise, experience and/or language skills are unnecessary and also not legitimate as restrictions on freedom of expression. These sorts of issues should be a matter of job competition – and in most cases they are natural conditions for these positions – and the market rather than regulation. The rules in Articles 16 and 25 which provide for a discretionary role in relation to experience for the Minister and Director are particularly problematical given that they open up the possibility of subjective, unfair decisions or decisions which are influenced by politics. Similarly, the rules on not having been convicted of “violating honour or morality” are not legitimate. Senior media workers may bear responsibility for such violations even when they are committed by others, and even a minor violation would exclude them from holding these roles. Finally, the requirement on editors-in-chief to have been a member of the JPA for four years might exclude perfectly competent people from these positions and is otherwise not legitimate as a restriction on freedom of expression. It is also unclear why the prohibition on working for another publication should be established by law, although, again, this would in many cases be considered to be a natural condition for such a position. Recommendations: Ø Article 10 of the Law should be repealed and relevant amendments should be made to the JPA Law so as to do away with restrictions on who may practise journalism. Ø Article 9 of the Law should be repealed. Ø The problematical restrictions on the holders of certain positions at Article 15(a) entities, publications and specialised publications in Articles 16, 21, 23, 24 and 25 should be repealed. Jordan: Analysis of the Press and Publications Law, 1998, as Amended - 15