- EGYPT
- December 4, 2012
- 4 minutes read
Legal Campaign Accuses Egypt Supreme Constitutional Court of Political Maneuvering
The "Together to Disband the Constitutional Court" legal campaign, which also calls for full independence of the judiciary in Egypt, condemns continued court involvement in political action that amounts to a serious assault against the revolution, the people and the judiciary.
The campaign asserts that, on Sunday, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) once again declared its insistence to be party to a political game from which it should distance itself.
The campaign reiterates its commitment to fulfilling demands made by Egyptian judges since the establishment of the SCC in 1969, reminding of the recommendations of the first Justice Conference in 1986 to dissolve the SCC and restore its jurisdiction to the Court of Cassation – as it originally was.
The campaign also reminded that there is a lawsuit which the Supreme Administrative Court referred to the SCC well over a year ago – for the SCC to consider the constitutionality of the law passed by Mubarak granting himself the right to appoint SCC judges.
The campaign further pointed that the Court’s management of the scene Sunday had nothing to do with justice or the well-established tradition of judges and the judiciary, but is indeed intolerable persistence by the SCC to meddle in the political arena.
Campaign founder Hassan Elkabbany said, "I call on the judges who have suspended their court sessions to refrain from cashing their salaries. I also call on court workers to stop assisting or working with them or to leave the judicial scene so as to honor venerable elders of the judiciary and the general assemblies of judges’ demands to sack the SCC".
Meanwhile, campaign coordinator and lawyer Amr Aley-Eddin said that, in his capacity as a legal professional, he was inside the courtroom Sunday, and that he noticed how SCC judges deliberately created a state of chaos and confusion.
He vehemently denied unfounded rumors and false reports claiming protesters prevented judges from entering the court building. On the contrary, the lawyer affirmed, SCC judges who did turn up at the court’s headquarters in Cairo were protected by more than sufficient, heavy police presence.
"In any court case where the public is truly interested, demonstrators gather in front of the court, often in greater number than Sunday’s.
"Some court workers, rather than judges, came out and said the SCC had decided to postpone all cases indefinitely."