Archive for State Lawsuits Authority

Elections commission says enough judges for referendum day two

by admin
December 19th, 2012

There will be enough judges to supervise the second round of the constitutional referendum on Saturday, High Judicial Elections Commission member Abdel Rahman Bahloul said Wednesday.

He said five judges on the State Council’s board confirmed that they would supervise the poll on the controversial draft constitution.

“As for the prosecutors, they announced that they would not take part last time, but many of them did,” he said.

He added that 600 Cairo Court of Appeals judges also said they would participate.

While there have been reports that HJEC Secretary General Zaghloul al-Balshy would not supervise the poll for health reasons, Bahloul said the committee has not been informed of this. However, “it would not make a difference,” he said, as there are other judges who could fulfill his duties.  

The committee has replied to complaints about irregularities in the first round, Bahloul said, and would reply to the rest of the complaints after the second round.

Fifty-seven percent of voters approved the draft constitution and 43 percent rejected it in the first round last Saturday, in which ten of Egypt’s 27 governorates voted. The State Council and the State Lawsuits Authority declined to supervise the first day of voting.

Human rights organizations have alleged that supervisors at many polling stations were not members of the judiciary, which the HJEC denied during a press conference on Tuesday.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Another prosecution body boycotts constitutional referendum

by admin
December 12th, 2012

The Administrative Prosecution Club announced that its counselors would only supervise the referendum on the draft constitution scheduled for 15 and 22 December if the most recent constitutional declaration and all its results are cancelled.

The head of the club, Abdallah Qandil, said in a statement that the club asked all prosecutions nationwide to provide the names of judges interested in supervising the referendum, and that a large majority refused to participate.

There are 3,847 Administrative Prosecution Club members, according to available data in the club, and only 836 have expressed the desire to supervise the referendum, while 3,011 have rejected it, Qandil said.

Qandil expressed the Administrative Prosecution counselors’ support of the judicial system in Egypt and the need to preserve its independence and immunity, as well as their support for every Egyptian who revolts against injustice.

He noted that the two constitutional declarations issued by the president have put the judiciary in an unprecedented confrontation with the presidential office.

The two declarations also showed signs of civil strife between different people in society, he said.

The club’s announcement comes one day after the Judges Club said that 90 percent of judges are boycotting the referendum. Meanwhile, the State Lawsuits Authority announced that it is willing to supervise the poll.

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Court adjourns lawsuits demanding Brotherhood dissolution

by admin
November 20th, 2012

The State Council Administrative Court postponed Tuesday cases demanding the disbandment of the Muslim Brotherhood until the beginning of January to give the defense time to prepare documents.

In a heated session, the State Lawsuits Authority told the court there are no formal or legal papers for the group.

Mokhtar al-Ashry, the head of the Freedom and Justice Party’s legal committee, asked to halt proceedings until the Supreme Administrative Court issues a verdict in other issues related to the case.

The plaintiffs argued that the Muslim Brotherhood did not abide by the law governing NGOs, which stipulates that all groups undertaking activities similar to those of an association must take the legal form of an association or a civil society organization.

They also said the Brotherhood works without permission and engages in politics, which is prohibited by the NGO law, and pointed to a report of the State Commissioners in 1977 that recommended the disbandment of the group accordingly.

Protests in Cairo in August called for the group's dissolution, saying that its existence is illegal under Law 84/2002.

The law is controversial, with rights groups considering it oppressive. Under the law, former President Hosni Mubarak dealt with the Brotherhood as an outlawed group and several members were arrested.

The Brotherhood has been operating outside the framework of the law since the group was disbanded in 1954 under former President Nasser. In 2011, Egyptian authorities approved the establishment of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political arm.

Edited translation from MENA

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Court to consider election suspension on Saturday

by admin
May 10th, 2012

The Supreme Administrative Court’s first circuit, headed by Judge Magdy al-Agaty, is scheduled to consider on Saturday an appeal to the decision issued by a lower administrative court suspending the presidential election scheduled for 23–24 May.

The Benha Administrative Court in Qalyubiya Governorate ruled Wednesday that the election should be suspended, saying the Presidential Elections Commission had overstepped its bounds by calling for voters to go to the polls in a bylaw.

The commission issued Bylaw 5/2012 on 7 March, which also set the dates for the first round of voting and runoffs.

The lower court said only Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council temporarily acting as the country's executive power, has the right to tell voters to go to the polls.

In its appeal, the State Lawsuits Authority said the Benha court decision was a clear violation of the law and Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which grants the Presidential Elections Commission immunity from legal challenges. It also said the ruling violates the commission’s term of operation, which began when it started accepting presidential candidacy applications and will end when the commission announces the election results.

In an unrelated case, the Supreme Administrative Court will hear an appeal by the Presidential Elections Commission on the same day against a Wednesday State Council Administrative Court decision annulling the commission's referral of the Political Isolation Law for constitutional review.

The law strips top officials who served under ousted President Hosni Mubarak or at the helm of his now-disbanded National Democratic Party of their political rights, including running for office, for 10 years.

A copy of the State Council Administrative Court's ruling suspending the commission's request for a constitutional review reads: “The Presidential Elections Commission overstepped its authority as a purely administrative commission by referring the law to the Supreme Constitutional Court."

The court said that based on constitutional principles, the elections commission cannot be entirely immune from judicial oversight and that its legal immunity only concerns the decisions made within its limited terms of reference.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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