Egypt’s National Dialogue unanimously approves final recommendations for pretrial detention measures

CAIRO – 11 August 2024: The Board of Trustees of the Egyptian National Dialogue unanimously approved its subcommittees’ final recommendations regarding the pre-trial detention to submit them to President Abdel Fatah El Sisi.

The meeting, held on Sunday, included nine Board members and 50 other participants. It addressed issues related to the duration of pre-trial detention, alternatives to pre-trial detention, handling multiple and concurrent crimes, compensation for wrongful pre-trial detention, and measures accompanying pre-trial detention.

Additionally, the Board will provide the President with a list of prisoners recommended for pardon through a Presidential decree.

The meeting was attended by the general director of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan, Rapporteur of the Human Rights and Public Freedom Committee Ahmed Raghed, Minister of Judicial and Legal Affairs Mahmoud Fawzi, and other members of the Board of Trustees.

On March 6, 2024, the Subcommittee on Drafting the Criminal Procedure Code completed the preparation of a draft of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which established and amended a number of provisions, most notably setting a maximum limit on pretrial detention and reducing its duration.

The committee agreed to reduce the duration of pretrial detention to 4 months instead of 6 months for misdemeanors, 12 months instead of 18 months for felonies, and 18 months instead of two years if the penalty prescribed for the crime was life imprisonment or death, and to set a maximum limit for pretrial detention by the lower-level criminal court. The second or the Court of Cassation in crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment to a maximum of two years instead of not restricting the terms.