Parliament to discuss endowments draft law

CAIRO - 22 October 2018: The Religious Committee at the House of Representatives is scheduled to discuss during the current parliamentary session the draft law submitted by the government to regulate the powers of the Egyptian Endowments Authority.

Endowments are properties that were allocated by Egyptians and non-Egyptians locally and abroad to charity in Egypt. There are two types of endowments; one is charitable endowments which are never returned to owners and the other is private endowments.

The revenues distribution of private endowments is divided as follows 10 percent for the Ministry of Endowments to cover the costs of administration tasks, 30 percent for the state, and 60 percent for owners. The endower designates which generation of his/her heirs will recover full revenue entitlement over the property.

The draft indicates three cases in which the authority can sell or replace endowed properties and three tasks the entity must undertake to manage endowments.

Article 1:

The Egyptian Endowments Authority has the right to manage, invest, and conduct dealings over charitable endowments on economic basis with the aim of developing endowments capital considered as private capital on behalf of the minister of endowments who is the guardian of endowments.

The ministry is in charge of fulfilling the conditions set out by endowers, and ensuring the abidance by rulings issued by courts and committees on share distribution and others as well as dealing with beneficiaries of private endowments.

Article 2:

The Egyptian Endowments Authority has the right to carry out a census, evaluate, and restore encroached endowments through a committee having representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Municipal Councils, the General Authority for Agrarian Reform, and any other concerned institution.

Any dealings over endowments must be through public auctions.

The Egyptian Endowments Authority can sell or replace endowments in the cases mentioned below:

- The authority can sell to co-owners in properties with endowed shares if those shares do not exceed 50 percent.
- The authority can sell to tenants of empty lands if they have constructed buildings upon the lands for more than 15 years.
- The authority can sell to tenants the units they have been renting in residential buildings.
The census includes all data on endowed properties in order to take measures that would preserve the rights of the Egyptian Endowments Authorities against tenants, encroachers, and replacers. In case of returning properties with missing portions, former beneficiaries must pay compensation. Former beneficiaries are meant to be any governmental institution that formerly received any endowed properties.

Article 3:

The Egyptian Endowments Authority has the right to buy formerly endowed shares after the endowment period is over which is determined by the share distribution committees in accordance with law 55/1960 (regulating the management of private endowments), and any other properties or shares that generate revenue.