ACIJLP GIVES ITS PRESENTATION ON JUSTICE AND JUDICIARY INDEPENDENCE IN EGYPT BEFORE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Cairo- March 21, 2013

ACIJLP GIVES ITS PRESENTATION ON JUSTICE AND JUDICIARY INDEPENDENCE IN EGYPT BEFORE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Mr. Nasser Amin, a lawyer and director of Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP), delivered the presentation of ACIJLP in the proceedings of 22^nd session, UN Human Rights Council, held in "Geneva" from Monday February 25, 2013 to March 22, 2013.

Mr. Nasser Amin presented on Tuesday 19^th of  March a presentation on the situation of justice and  judiciary independence in Egypt, obstacles to justice and  judiciary independence, how to overcome them and ensure equal access to justice, as well as the challenges facing the implementation of national legislation to enforce human rights law and ensure the rule of law. The presentation included how the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and other bodies of the United Nations help strengthen the judicial system and the administration of justice.

Mr. Amin analyzed in the presentation the status of judicial independence in Egypt at the time being and referred to systematic and stereotyped attacks facing the Egyptian judiciary; the regime of an islamic reference tends to reduce the role of the judiciary as an authority of legal and costitutional reference and replace it with another authority of religious jurisprudence reference in which the religious scholars have the upper hand over all else. There are also political groups support the ruling regime and its orientations, they work on belittling the role of the judiciary, charging it with the failure to achieve the demands of the January revolution; the justice, accountability of those involved in human rights violations in the former regime, paving the way for a confrontation between the judiciary and the masses of citizens, the last feature of these attacks according to the presentation, the failure of the executive and legislative powers in Egypt to adopt programs of transitional justice and judicial reform and approve legislations enabling judges revenge for rights and freedoms and account those involved in abuses, to demonstrate the judiciary apparently unable to exercise its functions in achieving  justice, limit its role and shake the confidence of citizens to find a cover for the systematic violations against the judiciary.

Mr. Nasser Amin explained in the presentation that features of the systemic attack against Egyptian judiciary were demonstrated through multiple sources of violations against the principle of judiciary independence in Egypt, whether by unconstitutional declarations issued by the executive power or legislations and bills issued by the legislative power.

Mr. Nasser Amin discussed in the presentation the violations against the independence of Egyptian judiciary in 2012 Constitution; he indicated the seriousness of these violations lies in the fact that they set a foundation for the prejudice of the judiciary independence making it typical and systematic, according to constitutional provisions. The possibility of judges removal based on constitutional provisions and retroactive application of these provisions to remove a specific group of judges from Supreme Constitutional Court, as well as the removal of former Attorney General and the provisions of the Constitution that prejudice seriously the guarantees of fair trial and legitimize the military trials by the constitution.

The presentation of the center indicated to the provisions of the Constitution that limit the role of the Supreme Constitutional Court in post-judgment on the constitutionality of laws and regulations, prevent it from monitoring the election legislations and grant it the right to pre-judge the legislations which the court did not practice since its inception and development in 1969 until the issuance of the 1971 Constitution and law No. 48 of 1979.

The presentation addressed the violations against the principle of judiciary independence; the executive power lacks respect for judicial decisions, manipulates in order not to implement them through the issuance of executive decisions or constitutional declarations to hinder the implementation of these decisions, furthermore, barricades the administrative decisions issued by the President in his capacity as the head of the executive power from judicial review, this is a clear prejudice to the principle of legitimacy. There were inappropriate interventions from the executive power in the course of investigations and attempts to violate the independence and impartiality of the general prosecution as well as the administrative proceedings against judges because of the performance of their functions.

Mr. Amin also presented in his presentation the attempts of the legislative power in Egypt to prejudice the independence of the judiciary, where there were many attempts by members of parliament to limit the existence, role and competencies of the Supreme Constitutional Court and prejudice its independence; specifically the post-judgment of the legislation constitutionality.

The presentation included the impact of these violations and practices by the executive or legislative power in Egypt on the decline of public confidence in the judicial system as the Supreme Courts suffered from blockade by citizens in favor of the ruling regime and prevented the judges of such Court from doing their functions, as well as the siege of the headquarters of prosecutors in order to influence the course of investigations. It became worse when prosecutors faced risks and threats to their right to life in a series of physical exposure and burning buildings and headquarters of the Department of Public Prosecutions.

The center, in its presentation delivered by Mr. Nasser Amin, developed a package of recommendations and proposals in support of the independence of judiciary and the situation of justice; recommendations regarding the role of UN and international institutions or recommendations regarding the actions and legislative, judicial and administrative measures to be adopted at the national level.

Mr. / Param Coomaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations to protect the independence of judges and lawyers in the period from 1994 to 2003 and a founding member of the regional working group for human rights mechanisms of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations participated in the session in which the presentation was delivered.

It should also be noted that this 22^nd session of the UN Council for Human Rights witnesses the celebration of 20^th anniversary of Vienna Declaration and Program of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, which aim to promote activities related to human rights all over the world. The proceedings of the 22^nd session of Human Rights Council will continue until the 22^nd of March 2013.