Gamal Essam El-Din reports on the parliamentary debate that preceded this week's passing of the military tribunals law After a five-hour debate on Saturday the People's Assembly endorsed a new military tribunals law. The law, approved by a majority of 184 MPs, most of them members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), was strenuously opposed by the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc, leftist parties and the liberal Al-Wafd party. Two NDP MPs, Taher Huzzayen and Mohamed Hussein, also voted against the law. Ibrahim El-Gogary, deputy chairman of the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, spearheaded the parliamentary debate, arguing that the new law represents a progressive step since it provides military tribunals with an unprecedented set of guarantees. These, he said, were sufficient to prevent Ministry of Defence interference in the work of tribunals. "The minister of defence cannot sack those sitting on tribunals or transfer them to other jobs," said El-Gogary. Only in administrative matters, he insisted, would military tribunals be bound by Ministry of Defence regulations. El-Gogary stressed that the law stipulated establishing a Supreme Military Appeal Court (SMAC). The court, located in Cairo and comprising a board of military judges, will decide all appeals filed by the military prosecution or by military and civilian personnel sentenced by military courts. Mamdouh Shahin, chairman of the Ministry of Defence's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Department, said that whatever the misconceptions held by the public, military judges are highly trained and "receive advanced training courses in legal and judicial matters before they are appointed judges". Shahin stressed that the military tribunals law will apply only to military personnel and that, "when civilians are referred to military tribunals it is the civil code that comes into effect". Moufid Shehab, minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs, argued that the law was just one step on the road of reforming the judicial military system, "a step that complies with international benchmarks in terms of independence and immunity for military tribunals". Mahmoud Abaza, leader of the Wafd Party, was the first to ignite the debate. "It is a joke to suggest military tribunals are independent," he told MPs, "and misleading to argue this law provides any guarantees." That military courts will remain subject to the Ministry of Defence in administrative matters could, he said, leave no doubt as to how independent they are intended to be. He characterised the SMAC as one more blow to an independent judiciary. "It leaves the door wide open to the referral of civilians to military courts," he said, before calling for the complete separation of military and civilian courts. "This law places the Egyptian judicial system in chaos, it is like grafting two disfigured faces on a single body." Amal Othman, chairwoman of the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, replied that "rather than placing matters in disarray the law will order the work of military tribunals... Judges will no longer be appointed or expelled by the Ministry of Defence while those convicted will have the right to appeal against military verdicts for the first time." Muslim Brotherhood MP Hussein Ibrahim claimed the real aim of the law was to send a false message to the outside world that, "all civilians who are referred to military courts in the future will enjoy adequate guarantees" while in the past military courts had shown no qualms about handing down death sentences in the absence of any such guarantees. Brotherhood MP Sobhi Saleh argued that the law violates Article 68 of the constitution which guarantees the right of every citizen to trial before a competent judge. He warned that should the law be passed, the Brotherhood and other opposition forces will file a case with the Supreme Constitutional Court. Ragab Hilal Hemeida, the sole representative of Al-Ahrar Party at the People's Assembly, noted that the law was the first concrete manifestation of recent constitutional amendments. "Now, thanks to the newly amended Article 179 the president is empowered to refer civilians to military tribunals," he told MPs. Othman intervened to remind Hemeida that Article 179 empowers the president to refer only those citizens suspected of committing terrorist crimes to any judicial authority, military tribunals included. "[Last month's] amendments came like a shock to the Egyptian people, opening the door to human rights violations and stripping the civilian judicial system of powers in favour of military tribunals," lamented the Wafdist MP. Similar concerns were echoed by the leftist MP Saad Abboud, who saw the law as a first step towards "militarising the Egyptian judicial system and turning Egypt into a complete police state". Military tribunals in Egypt 1884: After invading Egypt in September 1882 the British establish Egypt's first military tribunal to put Ahmed Orabi, leader of the Orabi revolution, on trial. 1893 : The first Military Tribunals Law is issued by the British occupation authorities in Egypt. It applied to both the Egyptian and British armies and remained in force until 1962. 1962 : The "Military Justice Law" (law52/1962) is issued to replace the 1893 British-inspired Military Tribunals Law. The law is amended in 1968 and 1969. 2007 : A new Military Tribunals Law is passed by the People's Assembly to replace the 1962 Military Justice Law.
