• Normalizing the military judiciary: How the constitutional amendments bring the Armed Forces into Egypt’s judicial system | MadaMasr

    https://madamasr.com/en/2019/08/07/feature/politics/normalizing-the-military-judiciary-how-the-constitutional-amendments-bring

    The day after a set of controversial constitutional amendments were approved in a national referendum in April, the Minister of Justice sent three laws to the heads of Egypt’s judicial bodies.

    The first two bills regulate how the heads of the country’s top judicial bodies are selected — namely the Supreme Constitutional Court, the Administrative Prosecution Authority, the State Lawsuits Authority, the Court of Cassation, and the State Council — as well as the military judiciary.

    The third law establishes a Council of Judicial Bodies, headed by the president and comprised of the heads of various judicial agencies, and also includes the head of the military judiciary.

    Justice Minister Mohamed Hossam Abdel Rahim included a letter with the three bills addressed to the head of each body asking them to offer their opinion on the draft laws. According to a judicial source, at least one of the judicial heads responded, inquiring into the reasons for the military judiciary being included in the bills. The minister responded by saying that the laws are an implementation of Article 185 of the amended Constitution.

    The first two laws were eventually ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on June 26, while the third law to establish a Council of Judicial Bodies was postponed by Parliament, pending the selection of new judicial heads by the president.