CAIRO - 11 April 2023: The draft law, which was finally approved by the House of Representatives, determined the reorganization of the General Meteorological Authority, imposing severe penalties for anyone who publishes lies and rumors about the weather through social media sites.
Article 13 of the law stipulates: without prejudice to any harsher penalty stipulated in the Penal Code or Any other law, and taking into account the provisions of Article 11 of this law, whoever commits one of the following acts shall be punished with a fine of not less than fifty thousand pounds and not more than five million pounds:
1- Provision of meteorological services of all kinds through other than the Authority or without obtaining a license from it
2- Establishing or operating meteorological stations of any kind, or weather or marine forecast centers, without obtaining a license from the Authority.
3- Posting any incorrect meteorological or weather information on social media, or by any means of publication.
4- Issuing any meteorological data, information, bulletins or studies and attributing them to the Authority untrue
5- Purchasing devices, meteorological stations, or stations specialized in measuring solar radiation, ozone, or the agricultural atmosphere, without the Authority’s approval or in violation of the technical specifications approved by it.
In all cases, the court orders the confiscation of devices, equipment, and tools used in committing the crime in favor of the Authority
The person responsible for the actual management of the legal person shall be punished with the same penalties prescribed for the acts committed in violation of the provisions of this law, if the crime was committed in the name and for the account of the legal person, and his knowledge of it was proven, and his will was directed to commit it, and the legal person shall be jointly responsible for fulfilling the financial penalties ruled by him.
The law aims to preserve the capabilities of the state and reduce the size of losses resulting from the publication of false news or the dissemination of inaccurate data and news related to meteorology, which has a negative impact on the economy.
Egypt pays great attention to fulfilling its international and regional obligations in the field of meteorology, including what was confirmed by the Permanent Arab Committee for Meteorology in the League of Arab States, regarding the need to issue legislation concerned with regulating meteorology within each country, which necessitated the realization of consideration in the governance of the field of meteorology, in light of what was found to be the absence of legislation concerned with meteorology, except for Presidential Decree No. 2934 of 1971 to establish the General Authority for Meteorology, it became necessary to prepare a draft law regulating all matters and procedures related to the organization of the General Authority for Meteorology.
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