Judiciary has “no power” over border demarcation, says judge

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: Egypt’s judiciary has no power to consider deals of border demarcation, the vice-president of the State Lawsuit Authority (SLA), Chancellor Sameh Al-Sayed, said Monday.

The only entity that has the authority to consider and review boundary demarcations is the parliament, he told ”Kol Youm” talk show on On Live channel.

A number of parliamentarians have looked into SLA files and documents regarding the disputed Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which Egypt handed to Saudi Arabia in an April 2016 deal, SLA’s second vice-president, Rafiq Al-Sherif, told Innfirad news portal Monday.

Sayed explained that the parliamentarians studied the SLA’s archives because the authority defended Egypt’s rights and territories during the British occupation (1882-1952).

The Legislative Committee of the House of Representatives approved the deal on Tuesday after a heated three-day discussion. A general vote by the parliament’s 596 members on the deal is yet to be announced.

The deal regarding the two islands, which are located at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, was signed by President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz in April 2016. It was opposed by many and even spurred lawyers to file a lawsuit against the government before the Administrative Court to annul the deal.

Then, two different court rulings were issued regarding the agreement. The first, issued by the Supreme Administrative Court in January, nullified the agreement, while the second verdict, issued in April by the Summary Proceedings Court, ruled for its validity.

To settle the judicial dispute, the deal was referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court, which is the last stop to consider it.