An Emergency Meeting for Egypt’s Judges

On Sunday, the Judges’ Union held an emergency meeting to discuss the government insistence not to preview the union with amendments made by the official High Judiciary Council on the union-drafted Jurisdiction Bill.
 
Sources said the union will consider a number of suggestions: staging a protesting stand in High Judiciary Court, going on a gradual strike or a sit-in in the union till the government meets their requests. Sources speculated the union’s approval on arranging a stand within the next week, as a beginning of successive protesting procedures will be taking up till the extraordinary meeting of the union’s General Assembly on March, 17th.
 
The Vice President of Cassation Court, Hesham el-Bastawesy, warned against the government scheme to introduce the bill to the parliament before getting the union informed with its amendments. For it is unreasonable not to be aware of the law regulating our work, he remarked. He added that there are many indications show the government desire to surprise judges with the law passed in the parliament. In such case, the judges’ reaction will surpass going on a strike or a sit-in. The union will adopt other pressing options such as seeking the judiciary-concerned international organizations to put pressure on the government to adhere to world pacts pertaining to judiciary independency. 
 
The deputy of the Judges’ Union, Nagy Derbalah, asserted it is unacceptable to subject judges to a law differing from their GA-approved bill. He remarked that the Justice Minister, Mahmud Abu el-Lal, is still promising to send a copy of the draft law to the union. If the government persists its overlooking policy towards the judges’ demands or enacting the bill, which allows the government grab over the union or the executive branch dominance over judiciary, the union will defend the judges’ calls overwhelming vigorously.
 
On a relative connection, the People Assembly becomes engaged in the battle of defending the judiciary independency when Ahmed Meky, the Vice President of Cassation Court, prepared a memo showing, with legal and constitutional evidences, the parliament incompetence to decide the legality of its memberships. Learnt source said the Parliament Chairman, Fathy Soror, made connections with the union’s head consulting him over this disputable memo. The outcome of these connections is unknown, however.
 
Meky said the union will dispatch the memo, attached with a number of supporting documents, in an officially registered letter to the parliament. He, in addition, expressed his welcome to discuss the memo in the parliament, if invented.