In a stormy Shura Council session on Tuesday Islamist MPs from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Wasat Party and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya's Reconstruction and Development Party teamed up to protest against the postponement of discussion of proposed amendments to the 1972 judicial authority law. The amendments aim to reduce the retirement age for judges from 70 to 60 and in doing so rid Egypt of 3,500 judges appointed by the Mubarak regime. Taher Abdel-Mohsen, deputy chairman of the council's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee and a leading FJP official, complained that the council has so far refrained from discussing Islamist MPs' amendments to the judicial authority law in a plenary session. Abdel-Mohsen submitted a request, signed by 25 deputies, asking Shura Council Chairman Ahmed Fahmi to allow discussion of the proposed amendments in an emergency session on Wednesday. According to Abdel-Mohsen, the law regulating the performance of judicial authority needs to be amended to make it compatible with the new constitution in force for five months now. “Though the constitution enshrines a new selection process for the prosecutor-general and places parliamentary polls under full judicial supervision the legislative framework to accommodate these changes is not yet in place,” argued Abdel-Mohsen. “The constitution stipulates that parliament must seek the opinion of the judicial authorities before any discussion of amendments to the law regulating their activities,” pointed out the Nour's parliamentary spokesman Abdallah Badran. “There is no hurry. We all know President Morsi and the Supreme Judiciary Council [SJC] have agreed that a Justice Conference be held first to hammer out a consensus on any legislative amendments.” Hatem Bagato, minister of parliamentary affairs, said the government opposed the Shura Council holding sessions to discuss the judicial authority law. “I disagree with Abdel-Mohsen's argument that the new constitution necessitates amending the judicial authority law,” said Bagato. “Judicial supervision of parliamentary polls does not require any legislative changes. The principle was instituted by the Supreme Constitutional Court 13 years ago.” Fahmi has made it clear that there will be no discussion of changes to the judicial authority law until a report on proposed amendments is finalised. “The report must be available to MPs at least 24 hours ahead of the council's plenary meeting,” said Fahmi. According to Fahmi the earliest date for any discussion of amendments is 25 May. “If approved in principle, the amendments can then be referred back to the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee for discussion article by article. But the amendments cannot be discussed without first seeking the opinion of representatives of judicial authorities.” The independent Judges Club says it has not yet decided whether it will participate in the so-called Justice Conference. Abdallah Fathi, deputy chairman of the Judges Club, said “some members, like the Alexandria Club, have opted to boycott the conference while others, like the Menoufiya Club, want to participate.” Fathi explained that the SJC has assured the Judges Club that the conference is not intended to manipulate the judicial authority. “The SJC,” he said, “has responded positively to conditions stipulated by the Judges Club. We insisted that the Shura Council must refrain from discussing any amendments to the judicial authority law and that the prosecutor-general appointed by President Mohamed Morsi and Shura Council Islamist MPs will be excluded from the conference.” Fathi indicated that “representatives of the Judges Club think it enough to attend the conference's opening meeting.” “Only then will we know the agenda of the conference and its real objectives. All judges reject reducing the retirement age from 70 to 60.” “We decided to boycott because the conference was proposed without a clear agenda,” says Alexandria Judges Club head Abdallah Abu Ayana. “The Shura Council has already announced that it will not be obliged to implement any recommendations that emerge from the conference.” Abu Ayana stressed that a majority of judges have lost faith in President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood and believe the main aim of the conference is to manipulate the judicial authority to serve the Brotherhood's ideological agenda. Newly appointed Minister of Justice Ahmed Suleiman told journalists on Monday that “the Justice Conference will be held within two weeks and President Morsi will attend the opening session.” Suleiman promised that the Shura Council would only discuss changes approved by a majority of judges. SJC Chairman Mohamed Metwalli on Sunday warned the Shura Council to “heed the opinion of the judicial community before adopting any law aimed at regulating its activities. He then added that he lacked the authority “to ask President Morsi to prevent the prosecutor-general from attending the conference. Shura Council committees are currently discussing amendments to a handful of controversial draft laws, including a 26-article government-drafted protest law. The Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, dominated by the FJP, has already announced that it wants to clamp down on permissions for demonstrations. FJP deputies are demanding that the Interior Ministry receive at least 24 hours notice of any planned protest, though the ministry itself wants at least three days advance warning. The Shura Council is also awaiting government-drafted legislation regulating the activities of NGOs. Initial reports on what the law will contain have provoked concern among local and international human rights activists. On 24 March the council provisionally approved an NGO law drafted by Muslim Brotherhood deputies which imposes strict bans on civil society and human rights organisations, prohibiting them from obtaining foreign funding or conducting opinion polls in Egypt. Shura Council chairman and leading Brotherhood official Fahmi said last week that “despite the council's provisional approval of the Brotherhood's NGO legislation, the council is awaiting another government-drafted NGO law”. Fahmi told a German delegation that the Shura Council would do its best to ensure that the law's articles were “balanced”. “European and US fears about the new NGO law are unjustified,” claimed Fahmi. “The Shura Council will make sure that the law secures the greatest possible consensus.” On Sunday the Shura Council's Human Rights Committee finalised amendments to the 2003 law regulating the state-run National Council for Human Rights (NCHR). Committee Deputy Chairman Ezzeddin Al-Komi said the amendments aimed to secure “complete independence” for the NCHR. “The NCHR will be completely divorced from the Shura Council,” said Al-Komi. “With the Shura Council's consent, the president of the republic will be empowered to appoint the NCHR's chairman and 26 members.” The NCHR has recently come under fierce criticism from secular opposition forces. Human rights activists complain the NCHR has fallen under Muslim Brotherhood control. “Just as under the Mubarak regime, the NCHR is being manipulated to serve the political interests of Egypt's rulers,” says Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights head Hafez Abu Seada. The NCHR is now headed by Hossam Al-Ghiriani, a former judge with Islamist leanings. The majority of its members — appointed by President Morsi — lack any experience of human rights activities. “The NCHR has turned a blind eye to human rights violations in recent months, including the proliferation of torture in prison cells and the kidnapping of young revolutionary activists opposed to President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood,” says Abu Seada.
