After a short truce with the government, judges are to resume their battle for reform. Mona El-Nahhas reports Judges have been working on drafting a new judiciary law which is aimed at achieving total independence of the judiciary, a demand not met in the judiciary law endorsed by the People's Assembly in June. The initiative means that last year's battle between the state and its judges, which stopped briefly, is set to continue. According to Judge Hesham Geneina, secretary-general of the Cairo Judges Club, the new draft aims at guaranteeing the total independence of judges from the executive authority represented by the Justice Ministry. According to the majority of judges, the current amended judiciary law failed to achieve this distinction. For example, choosing heads of the courts of first degree, in addition to evaluating the performance of judges, were still kept in the hands of the justice minister. The draft will also include articles defining the role of judges clubs and stressing the independence of such judicial bodies. The drafting of the new law has already started and is expected to end in December. A copy will be presented to judges during a general assembly, scheduled for December, following which judges will press for its endorsement. This will not be easy. Mamdouh Mar'ei, recently named justice minister, is said to oppose judges calling for reform. "The justice minister should act as a mediator between the judiciary and the government. Failing to do so will not serve the government or the regime. On the contrary, it will widen the confrontation between the two authorities," Geneina said. While pressing for reform and independence, judges have said they will appeal to the legitimate channels. "We'll first address Mar'ei. If no action is taken, we will appeal to the prime minister and the president," Geneina added. Unlike his predecessor Mahmoud Abul- Leil, Mar'ei is criticised for allegedly being unwilling to listen to other points of view, an attitude which some say could lead to a clash between the minister and judges. In addition to drafting the law, judges have been preparing a paper which will include their concept of the new constitutional amendments, scheduled to be proposed during next week's general conference of the ruling NDP. Article 88 of the constitution, which stipulates that judicial supervision over elections is a must, is said to top the list of amendments the government intends to push through. It was leaked that the suggested amendment of Article 88 will replace judges by an independent authority to supervise future elections and referendums. The role of judges will be limited to the supervision of the main polling stations. Following last year's presidential and parliamentary polls, judges exposed several cases of electoral fraud which marred the elections. However, the concerned judges were later subject to a series of punitive measures. Two of the reformists' leaders were referred to a disciplinary court on charges of harming the image of the judiciary by accusing fellow judges of taking part in the rigging. In an attempt to stop growing agitation, the government deprived judges of their preferred weapon of choice: judicial supervision over elections. Judges have vowed to stand firmly against any amendment which would jeopardise the independence of the judiciary, saying that should there be only partial supervision, it would be better for them to stage a sweeping boycott. "We are not going to give legitimacy to rigged elections," said Judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri, chairman of the Alexandria Judges Club who sparked the judges' intifada last year and led them in their battle for independence. During its meeting two weeks ago, El-Khodeiri was assigned by the Cairo Judges Club to chair a committee which will reply to the coming constitutional amendments. El-Khodeiri was quoted as saying he was pessimistic about the coming constitutional amendments which he believed will not be much better than the amendment of Article 76 of the constitution which was passed last year despite the objections of many political forces in the country. The amendment, which many observers said put obstacles in the way of candidates for the presidency, was viewed as paving the way for power inheritance.
