The lawyers-judges crisis has not abated, Mona El-Nahhas reports It was nearly two weeks ago that lawyers across Egypt protested against amendments due to be introduced to a law regulating the judiciary authority. Lawyers said the amended draft law included articles which are "humiliating" to their profession and which deprive lawyers of their rights. Delaying polls at the Bar Association for an indefinite period was another reason for the lawyers' anger. News of lawyers shutting down courts with chains, assaulting courtrooms and attacking judges were published and broadcast daily since the start of the crisis. The lawyers insisted that the new judiciary draft law should be dropped and a date set for staging their syndicate polls. On Saturday the judicial committee running the Bar Association following the dissolution of its council in July announced that elections will be staged on 20 November. Although the announcement managed to calm things down, the crisis with judges did not end. Lawyers vowed to continue the fight until the withdrawal of the draft. The protesters were led by nominees planning to run in the coming syndicate council elections, and competing for the chairmanship seat. It was the same electoral calculations which led to the position taken by board members of the Cairo Judges Club. With club elections approaching, board members escalated the problem with lawyers, apparently to serve their electoral interests. Realising that their chances of winning in December's polls were low due to their poor performance during the past three years and to their reported ties with the former regime, it appears they are using the current crisis to increase their chances of success. In a statement issued earlier this week, the Cairo Judges Club called for suspending work at all courts until further notice. The demand received a poor response from judges. A vast majority of judges warned that such call meant the end of "the state of law". In addition, reformist judges argued the call would serve the interests of former officials who are currently standing trial on corruption charges. On Monday, the club called for an emergency general assembly, due tomorrow, Friday, to discuss the current situation. Club chairman Ahmed El-Zend renewed his call for suspending work, stressing that he would not rest until "those criminals who threatened judges' safety are arrested." El-Zend previously described lawyers as acting like a mob. El-Zend's comments naturally provoked lawyers who insisted that he apologise. On Monday, an emergency general assembly was held at the headquarters of the Bar Association. Lawyers called for withdrawing the draft law and postponing discussion on it until the election of a new parliament and the passage of a new constitution, arguing that the judiciary law is one of the constitution-complementary laws which cannot be passed in the absence of the constitution. The four articles in the new draft which angered lawyers included Article 18 which allows the presiding judge to imprison anyone, including the lawyer himself, during the hearing of lawsuits should there be any violation of the discipline. Articles 132 and 133 which described lawyers as being among judges' aides, were unanimously objected to by lawyers. "We are not judges' aides. Both lawyers and judges are partners in achieving justice," retorted Mohamed El-Damati, rapporteur of the Bar Association Freedoms committee. El-Damati also referred to Article 47 which limits the maximum percentage of lawyers who can work for the appeals courts and who want to join the judiciary, to 20 per cent. Judge Ahmed Mekki, head of the judicial committee which was assigned by the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) to amend the judiciary law, stated that all articles of the new draft are just suggestions and are still subject to discussion. "We invited lawyers to submit their own views. There was no need for all this," Mekki said. Judge Hossam El-Gheriani, head of the SJC, called upon lawyers in the wake of the problem to present their own suggestions regarding the controversial articles which were included in the draft law. During a meeting Saturday at the headquarters of the Higher Judiciary House with a group of 30 lawyers, El-Gheriani reportedly expressed reservations about Article 18 on the grounds that it had nothing to do with the independence of the judiciary. Both El-Gheriani and Mekki are with reformist judges who have been for years battling for an independent judiciary. News about annulling the article was widely reported, however, lawyers insisted that they are waiting for an official decree. This is not the first time Mekki's draft law is subject to such strong opposition. Earlier this year, El-Zend opposed Mekki's committee and decided to draft another law. Failing to get judges' vote for his draft, El-Zend submitted what he proposed to the SJC. El-Gheriani pledged to take into consideration El-Zend's draft while preparing the new judiciary law.
