COMMEMORATING the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Constitutional Court on Saturday, President Hosni Mubarak said that "the government has never refrained from implementing a single ruling issued by the constitutional judiciary since its establishment". "We are proud of what our constitutional judiciary has achieved for Egypt and Egyptians, of its veteran judges and of the rulings which they have passed to protect citizens' rights and freedoms," President Mubarak stressed during a speech delivered at the Maadi headquarters of the Constitutional Court. Addressing assembled judges, President Mubarak said that the constitutional judiciary, while ensuring the constitutionality of legislation, had always remained neutral and independent as it strove to achieve a balance between citizens' rights and the higher interests of the country. At the beginning of the ceremony, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Maher Abdel-Wahed said that since the 1923 constitution was issued, the constitutional judiciary has witnessed marked development. This is made clear in landmark rulings passed by the Constitutional Court. The Supreme Constitutional Court was established in September 1979 as an independent institution, charged under the current constitution with assessing the constitutionality of laws. Its rulings are binding on the legislative, executive and judicial authorities. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, speaker of the People's Assembly Fathi Sorour, Shura Council speaker Safwat El-Sherif, Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei, heads of judicial bodies, professors of law at Egyptian universities and leading judges from Egypt and other Arab countries. During the ceremony President Mubarak awarded medals of merit to former chairmen of the Supreme Constitutional Court.