Human Rights Organizations Condemn attempts to prejudice The independence of the Supreme Constitutional Court

Cairo, 29^th November 2012 

Human Rights Organizations Condemn attempts to prejudice

The independence of the Supreme Constitutional Court

The organizations signed this statement express its full condemnation of any attempts aimed at undermining the independence of Supreme Constitutional Court, as well as attempts to reduce its role and undercutting it from exercising its inherent jurisdiction in supervising the constitutionality of laws and regulations, as well as attempts to thrown the Court in disputes and political issues to undermine the court's independence and impartiality.

The undersigned organizations arise many concerns about the persistence of these attempts, which was recently represented in:

First: draft of a law- submitted on behalf of the Egyptian People's Assembly before issuing a ruling to dissolve it - relevant to the role of the Court in the subsequent supervision over the constitutionality of laws, and prevent them from such supervision on laws relevant to elections of People's Assembly and Shura Council and Political Rights Law.

Second: what has been set forth in recent draft of constitution regarding the predominance of executive power by the President of the Republic and predominance on matters relevant to the appointment of the president and members of the Supreme Constitutional Court and giving this jurisdiction to the President of the Republic.

Third: the contents of the final document issued by the President of the Republic on November 22 of 2012 in particular Articles 2 and 5, where Article 2 immunized the decisions and laws issued by the President of the Republic of any judicial supervision on such decisions as well as Article 5 confers immunity to the Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution and the Shura Council of any judicial exposure to them, in an attempt to limit the power of the judiciary in general and the constitutional Court in particular to exercise constitutional supervision on laws, which established the institutions referred to.

The organizations signed this statement pointed out that the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, is one of the oldest courts not only in Egypt but in the Arab countries, and in many judicial systems, which have had an effective and efficient role in establishing many of the constitutional principles, values ​​and concepts, which established many of the rights and freedoms, and put a fence and clear benchmarks of constitutional judicial protection of these rights.

The undersigned organizations appreciates the important role of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt and expresses its total rejection of any attempts to obstruct the role of the Supreme Constitutional Court, undermine its jurisdiction or any attempts to politicize their role or striping it from its inherent jurisdiction to supervise the constitutionality of the laws.

The undersigned organizations call upon all the institutions of the Egyptian state, including the President of the Republic, to ensure the protection of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and ensure the performance of its role, out of respect for the constitutional legitimacy and as recognition of the role of the Court in the protection of rights and freedoms.

The organizations signed this statement also call upon all the forces of civil society and citizens to support judicial mechanism that protect their fundamental rights and freedoms  because violating this mechanism paves the way for violations of the constitutional rights and freedoms, which established by the Court through its verdicts since its inception until now.

The undersigned organizations:

1-   The Arab Center for the Independence of Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP)

2-   The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR)

3-   The Group for Democratic Development

4-   The Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC)

5-   The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA)

6-   The Arab Penal Reform Organization (APRO)

7-   Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAAP)

8-   El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence

9-   The Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA)

10-Maat Center for Judicial and Constitutional Studies

11-Center for alternative development studies and programs

12-Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (EACPE)

13-Egyptian Association for the Assistance of Juveniles and Human Rights (EAAJHR).

14-Cairo Center for Development and Human Rights

15-The New Woman Foundation (NWRC)

16-El Nakib Center for Training and Democracy Support (NCTDS)

17-The Egyptian Foundation for Family Development (EFFD)

18-The International Center for Supporting Rights and Freedoms (ICSRF)

19-Egyptian Association for Disseminating & Developing Legal Awareness

20-Andalus institute for tolerance and anti-violence studies (AITAS)

21-The Land Center for Human Rights (LCHR)

22-Arab Foundation for Supporting Civil Society

23-The Center for Appropriate Communication Technologies (ACT)

24-Dialogue Forum Foundation for Development and Human Rights

25-El-Kalema Center for Human Rights