Article 16 of Jordan Law No. 31/2001 did not address whether the competent judge tasked with appointing an arbitrator had the authority to review the arbitration agreement to verify its validity, existence, and scope, or if the judge’s role was limited to a superficial verification of its existence and appointing the arbitrator accordingly.

Legal doctrine on the judge’s authority to appoint an arbitrator was divided into two views: The first supported the competent judge’s authority for a complete review of the arbitration agreement. If the judge found that the arbitration agreement did not exist or was invalid, they could refuse the request to appoint an arbitrator without declaring the arbitration agreement null and void. The second view prohibited this comprehensive review, restricting the judge’s authority to verifying the existence and apparent validity of the arbitration agreement without delving deeply into the matter. This was based on the justification that such issues fell within the jurisdiction of the arbitration panel, which was responsible for ruling on them according to the principle of competence-competence.