Will last week's court ruling ending the presence of security personnel at Cairo University be shelved, asks Mona El-Nahhas On 26 November, in what has been hailed as a historic ruling, the Administrative Court ordered the Interior Ministry to remove all security personnel from Cairo University campus. The court further called on the university administration to abide by Article 317 of the law regulating universities and form its own security unit which will be affiliated to the university president's office and assume responsibility for safeguarding the university. A group of Cairo University professors, members of the 9 March Movement for the Independence of Universities, filed the lawsuit asking for an end to any security presence inside the university campus last year. They argued that the presence of the security apparatus was in violation of constitutional articles guaranteeing the independence of universities. The plaintiffs, who named both the minister of higher education and the president of Cairo University in their suit, added that security personnel repeatedly intervened in demonstrations and in student union elections. Before appealing to courts a request to replace Interior Ministry security personnel with a special security unit affiliated to the university administration was submitted to University of Cairo President Hossam Kamel. Only when he failed to reply were legal measures instigated. Following the ruling the 9 March Movement distributed a statement praising the judgement as a step towards liberating Egyptian universities from security control. Leading member Hani El-Husseini told Al-Ahram Weekly that they are still waiting for an official copy of the court judgement. Once it is received they intend to ask Kamel's office for immediate implementation. "We have been trying to meet with him since the court issued its verdict but it seems he is too busy to see us," El-Husseini said. "But what we need to know is how the administration intends to act." Kamel insists he too needs an official copy of the ruling to refer to the university's legal advisors before formulating any response. Minister of Higher Education Hani Hilal announced that he would contest the first-degree ruling. Security presence in universities, he argued, was intended to protect property and not to interfere in the educational process or student activities. Legal commentators say appeals to a higher court do not suspend Administrative Court rulings which should be implemented immediately after being issued. "However, the state sometimes does engage in an old legal trick to delay the implementation of rulings against it," says legal expert Yehia El-Gamal. "The ministry or the university will probably file a request to another court asking for an immediate suspension of the ruling until the higher court finally settles the appeal." Abdel-Galil Mustafa, a founder of the 9 March Movement, doubts the ruling will be implemented. "The government will either ignore the ruling totally or use legal means to hinder its implementation." Others do not exclude the possibility that the university administration will form a new security unit comprising the same security personnel dressed up in new uniforms. "You can expect anything from a government which does not abide by court rulings," says El-Husseini. Two weeks ago, the same court annulled a decree issued by Giza governor and agriculture minister evacuating Al-Qoraseya Island residents. In a third landmark ruling the Administrative Court ordered a halt to exports of natural gas to Israel. Political analysts argue the successive rulings -- which received wide public support -- have to some extent restored public trust in Egypt's judiciary.
