Judges meet tomorrow to debate their response to the Ministry of Justice's draft law regulating the Higher Council for Judicial Bodies, reports Mona El-Nahhas During a press conference at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry on Monday morning, ministry spokesman Osama Attaweya announced that the most controversial article in the draft law governing the Higher Council for Judicial Bodies would be withdrawn. The article would have effectively abolished judicial immunity, a constitutional privilege that judges argue underpins their neutrality and independence. Despite the retreat by the ministry stance, judges remain opposed to the draft law which will be discussed at tomorrow's general assembly to be held at the headquarters of the Cairo Judges' Club. "Even though one or two articles are being amended, judges still reject such a faulty draft," Judge Ahmed Mekki told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Judges still need to meet and formulate their response to the state's non-stop attempts to curb whatever is left of their independence." Hesham Geneina, secretary-general of the Cairo Judges' Club, is insisting that judges be presented with a copy of the proposed law, drafted in secret by the ministry, so that they can determine an appropriate response. "What has been published is an insult to the judiciary and abolishing one or two articles will not improve a law that needs to be trashed," he said. The draft is seen by judges as an attempt to tighten the grip of the executive, represented by the justice minister, over judicial affairs, according precedence to the minister over heads of the Higher Constitutional Court, the Supreme Judiciary Council, the Court of Cassation, administrative courts, the Court of Appeal and the prosecutor-general. "It's illogical that the justice minister should take precedence over the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court who fills in for the president in his absence," points out Mekki. Another controversial draft article stipulates that the minister of justice can appoint an aide to head the council's secretariat-general. The draft also requires that all council decisions be presented to the minister for approval, including the proposed venue for council meetings. It had also sought to deprive judges of control of their own budget, a provision that was included in the 2006 amendments to the judiciary law after years of struggle on the part of judges. During the press conference, Attaweya said the independent budget of judges was no longer an issue and would continue to be guaranteed under the new draft. Prior to the amendments, the draft law had proposed placing the budgets of all judicial bodies in the hands of the council. The dispute around the ministry's draft flared up last week when the independent Al-Masry Al-Yom published eight articles of the proposed law which Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei has yet to show to judges. State officials greeted the publication with silence, with many claiming they had no knowledge of the draft. Meanwhile, the Judges' Club appealed to President Hosni Mubarak asking him to intervene in his constitutional capacity as arbiter between the executive, legislative and the judicial authorities, calling on the president to stop the draft. Members of the board of Cairo Judges' Club say they are coordinating with judges' clubs across the country in order to mobilise attendance at Friday's assembly. Judge Yehia Dakrouri sees the draft as a coordinated attack on the privileges enjoyed by judges. By giving the Higher Council for Judicial Bodies the right to appoint members of the Supreme Administrative Court, he says, the draft "flagrantly interferes in the affairs of administrative courts". While the Justice Ministry maintained its policy of no comment, copies of the draft were circulated among the state-appointed heads of judicial bodies. The Administrative Prosecution and State Jurisdiction Authorities, neither of which is headed by a judge, hurried to announce their approval of the new law, insisting that there was no justification for judges' anger over the draft. Heads of the Higher Constitutional Court and the Supreme Judiciary Council, however, expressed reservations, particularly over the two articles relating to judicial immunity and the budget. Judge Moqbel Shaker, head of the Supreme Judiciary Council, informed Marei of his objections, a move that appears to have precipitated in the ministry's climbdown.
