Lawyers Still Protesting against Legal Fees Act

Due to the escalation of the crisis between the government and lawyers on the legal fees Act, 2000 lawyers are still striking in front of all courts in Qalyoubeya governorate.
Strikers said this strike would be followed by other events until this project is withdrawn, as arrangement for other strikes are taking place in fornt of the courts of Banha and Shubra El Khema governorate.
 
Meanwhile, stress and confusion are filling the air in front of the courts and prosecutions in Qalyoubeya, as lawyers are abstaining and refusing to work in the courts to defend citizens. Citizens have called for the need to solve the problems of lawyers in order to stop them from starting an open-ended strike, causing disruption of their interests.
 
In Cairo, “Lawyers against the Increase of Legal Fees” declared the continuation of its strike in the Bar Association next week until the Parliament finishes drafting the bill to conform with the will of lawyers and their legitimate demands.
They stressed the need to abolish the suggested amendments for the text of Article 9 of the project and maintaining the current fees without any relative changes.
 
They explained that this percentage with its increase, suggested by Mamdouh Moraei Minister of Justice, is another significant burden on the right to litigation since if there was a compensation case or a claim of 100 thousand pounds, the relative fee was 43 pound in addition to half of it (27.50 pounds) for Welfare Fund of Judges, with a total of 70.50 pounds.
 
The minister suggested increasing this fee with 0.05%, which means that it would reach 500pounds relatively and 250 pound in addition to half of it as a Welfare Fund of Judges, with a total of 750 pounds, which is too high compared to the social and financial situation of Egyptian citizens and unacceptable for lawyers.
 
MB lawyers have expressed their disapproval to the outcomes of the discussions in the parliament as the result was the approval on increasing the legal fees five times the current charges, rather than ten folds.
 
The parliamentary has agreed primarily on incensement to five times instead of ten times, which made lawyers insist on keeping their strikes in order to reduce the charges.
 
The Sharia Committee in the Bar Association has expressed its disapproval on the outcomes of the discussions in the parliamentary on 1st of March, and stressed that lawyers should pressurise more on the government to abandon this incensement.
 
Meanwhile, the MB lawyers have insisted on their position, as MB MP Sobhy Saleh rejected this bill, pointing out that this increase is a needless burden on citizens, especially since they did not get any service, adding that the main problem is the enforcement of new laws and new charges. If the Minister had withdrew these two texts the debate over the bill would’ve been over as stated by opposition and MB MPs and some of NDP MPs.