Sisi urges African judicial collaboration to face terrorism, extremism

CAIRO - 19 February 2019: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received on Tuesday the chief justices of African constitutional and supreme courts who were taking part in the third African judicial conference hosted by Egypt.

The president expressed his support for the conference, and his appreciation for the role played by top courts to ensure the judicial protection of African citizens. President Sisi highlighted the long experience and the well established judicial traditions of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court which was founded decades ago. The president said that such features enabled Egypt’s top court to face many challenges throughout the past years.

The president affirmed Egypt’s eagerness to exchange judicial experience with African counterparts, and vowed to back the conference’s recommendations, particularly those asserting to hold the conference periodically and training African judicial personnel.

The president announced that Egypt will launch an electronic platform to better connect African top courts together, and improve cooperation among them.

The president discussed with the African justices the subject matters tackled by the conference including anti-corruption measures, environmental laws, and achieving balance between counterterrorism and human rights preservation.


President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in a meeting with chief justices of African constitutional and supreme courts at Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, Egypt. February 19, 2019. Press Photo

The president affirmed the importance of willpower and popular awareness among Africans to reinforce the role of law and the judiciary to effectively combat terrorism and extremism composing a threat to the whole world.

President Sisi added that the judicial institutions have to articulate legal frameworks necessary to deal with those phenomena taking into consideration that counterterrorism is a main human right that maintains the people’s right to live safely, and achieve growth and development.

The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court Hanafy Ali al-Gebaly, and his deputy Omar Sherif. The three-day conference kicked off on Saturday, and was attended by delegations from 45 African countries representing their constitutional and supreme courts.