Egypt’s judges backtrack on rejecting new law of judicial authorities

CAIRO - 30 April 2017: Egypt’s judges backtracked on their rejection of the newly passed judicial authority law, which allows the president to appoint heads of supreme judicial authorities.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the law which grants that president the right to choose one out of three candidates, usually nominated by the councils of judiciary bodies for the judicial presidency. The three candidates must be deputies of the outgoing chairpersons.

The law, which came into force Friday, raised controversy between the parliament and the judges who said it violates the judicial authority’s independence; the judicial authority traditionally elects the eldest appointed judge as president.

The Administrative Prosecution Authority (APA) announced in a statement on Saturday that its judges will abide by the new law, adding that the APA’s oldest appointed deputies will be nominated for the body’s presidency by July 1. Candidate names will be sent to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to select the new head. The APA is an independent legal body authorized to investigate administrative and financial irregularities.

Despite its initial discontent, the State Council of Egypt, another independent body, approved the nomination of three deputies for the body’s presidency, announcing that the Council’s General Assembly will convene May 13 to nominate the judges whose names will be sent to Sisi. The Council is authorized to settle administrative disputes between the government and individuals, to write the government’s draft laws, and to revise any law drafted by the parliament.

Members of the Special Board, the highest administrative authority at the State Council, also disagreed with the decisions made by the Judges’ Club, after passing the law; on Wednesday, the club called for boycotting the parliamentarian election supervision.
However, the State Council’s Special Board Member Mohamed Hassan stated that “the judges will respect the new law.”