The opening chapter of Amr Al-Shalakani's book unfolds with a by now epic scene that took place on 29 March 1954. Demonstrations against the monarchical ancien regime that had ruled prior to the Revolution of 23 July 1952 had been raising slogans against “democracy”, and the insurgent energy culminated on the steps of the State Council — in a physical assault on the prominent judge and head of the Council, Abdel-Razeq Pasha El-Sanhouri. Sanhouri, long revered as a major figure in Egypt's judicial history, had already adopted legal stances that supported the Free Officers' Revolution. He was assaulted nevertheless when he opted for the adoption of democracy and a multi-party system, in the internecine struggle between Revolutionary Command Council member Gamal Abdel-Nasser and the then President General Mohamed Naguib (who was to be placed under house arrest for the rest of his life after Nasser emerged triumphant). The assault on Al-Sanhouri, which as it was later proved was orchestrated by the ruling regime, and the events which ensued over one and a half decades from 1952 to 1968, culminated in what came to be known as “the massacre of the judiciary” of 1969. This was the end of a process during which a socialist, populist-oriented regime tried to politically assimilate the judicial corps, a large part of which had refused to become affiliated to its party organisation, the Arab Socialist Union (ASU). A year before, on 28 March 1968, the general assembly of the Judges Club had issued its now historic declaration that “in order to preserve the judiciary's independence and guarantee justice, we recommend that all judges desist from participating in any political organisation in the ASU”. The club issued additional recommendations aimed at promoting the judiciary's independence. In response, over a year later, in August 1969, Nasser issued a series of “judicial reform” laws that were notoriously dubbed the “judicial massacre” laws. They placed the judiciary under the control of a higher council for judicial bodies, and transferred or relegated to retirement judges who had issued legal rulings that were not favourable to the political regime. And that was that until the 1980s when, during the reign of former President Hosni Mubarak, a new movement for the independence of the judiciary gathered momentum and culminated, during a congress of judges in 2005, in threatening to boycott the supervision of parliamentary elections if reform in the direction of judicial independence was not undertaken. Himself a lawyer, academic and activist with versatile political interests, Al-Shalakani presents us with a work of remarkable breadth, vividly moving back and forth in Egypt's contemporary political and legal history. At the same time he documents the birth and evolution of Egypt's legal profession in 1882, following it through to 1952. The work raises questions about the future of the legal profession, which played a pivotal role in the era preceding the 23 July 1952 Revolution, and which was followed by another six decades during which it was locked within the embrace of a military-based authoritarian system. The book is replete with photographs and rich in narrative detail, informing the reader of the spirit that pervaded Egypt's judiciary ever since its inception over 150 years ago. It reveals how Egypt's legal class of judges and lawyers became society's repository of civil values and principles of democracy, in what became known as Egypt's liberal age (extended from the start of the British occupation in 1882 and until 23 July 1952). Egypt's “legal elite” became the catalyst for a strong national movement that opposed British Occupation and reached an apogee with the nationalist Revolution of 1919. It was this new class of lawyers and judges, graduates of the Khedival Law School established by Egypt's Viceroy Mohamed Ali in the 19th century who, by virtue of their qualifications, were best suited to the task of advocating Egypt's independence. The “Egyptian Question” as it came to be known was a primarily legal question pertaining to Egypt's position vis-a-vis both the British and the Ottoman empires. The rhetoric of resistance articulated by Egypt's legal elite became that of the law, premised on the right to independence, and underscoring Britain's violations of its legal commitments to Egypt. It was this class of politicians, intellectuals and visionaries who, in fighting the battle for national independence, forged almost every aspect of social, intellectual and economic life in Egypt's liberal age. This age ended abruptly with the military-based change of regime which came about as a result of the 1952 Revolution. In this context Al-Shalakani underscores the pattern of interactions between Egypt's legal elite with its laws and institutions on the one hand, and the military-based regime during the eras of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Anwar Al-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak on the other. Notwithstanding the differences between Nasser's socialist era and the economically “liberal” tenures of his successors Sadat and Mubarak, the legal elite after 1952 continued to be subjected to pressures and riddled with conflicts under the authoritarian state. The book charts the changing roles of both the military and Egypt's religious institution Al-Azhar, raising interesting questions regarding the currently evolving roles of these two institutions after the 25 January Revolution and the changing political landscape to which it has given rise. Historical hindsight is a strong point in Al-Shalakani's work as he traces the steps that debilitated the judiciary's autonomy for six decades. Even in its golden age, prior to 1952, there were moments when members of Egypt's legal elite let their political inclinations influence the manner in which they interpreted the law, whether by invoking or ignoring its rulings depending on their political inclinations at the time. Al-Shalakani's book appears to have been completed before Egypt's current Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated president Mohamed Morsi issued his controversial Constitutional Declaration of November 2012. The declaration, which became a major bone of contention for the judiciary as well as Morsi's political opponents, gave immunity to all constitutional declarations he had issued since his accession to power in June of that year, additionally nullifying all pending lawsuits against them. It is ironic that, in reviewing the transgressions of the Nasserist era against the judiciary, the book resorts to the testimony of a prominent judge, Ahmed Mekki, who, during the 1980s and afterwards, had played a marked role in championing the movement for an independent Egyptian judiciary. As current Minister of Justice (appointed by Morsi), Mekki's conspicuous acquiescence in ongoing executive transgressions against the judiciary epitomise the very malaise he had been respected for standing up to. In his review of the legal profession and the future courses it might adopt, Al-Shalakani admonishes, “There is no choice for the legal elite, if it wants to work towards serious judicial reform, but to candidly discuss its past. This is important in order to gauge the extent of corruption that has afflicted the judiciary, the legal profession, and their academic circles in equal proportion”. Reviewed by Aziza Sami
