New state council takes oath before Sisi

CAIRO – 20 July 2017: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received on Thursday Judge Ahmed Abu Al-Azm who took an oath as the new head of the Egyptian Council of State.

The official newspaper issued a presidential decree to appoint Ahmed Abu Al-Azm as the new head of the Egyptian Council of State to be put into effect starting Thursday July 20, 2017.

The president appointment came after the outgoing head reached the age of retirement, the council's Vice President Fouad Abdel Fatah said on Wednesday.

The appointment comes in accordance with a new judicial authority law ratified by Sisi in April, which gives the president the right to appoint the heads of the country's top judicial bodies by choosing from three nominees proposed by each body.

Judge Abu Al-Azm, 68, is the current head of the State Council's legislative department.
He was among many senior council state judges who had expressed strong objection to the law, saying that arguing it would undermine the independence of judiciary in the counterpart of the executive authority.