Can Mamdouh Marei survive a cabinet reshuffle as justice minister? Most judges hope not, writes Mona El-Nahhas Hundreds of judges working for administrative courts will gather tomorrow at the headquarters of the State Council Judges Club to decide on a response to what many believe is slanderous behaviour on the part of Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei. During a recent meeting with a group of judges at the ministry's Judicial Studies Centre, Marei is alleged to have made fun of club chairman Yehia Dakrouri, saying "he was weeping like late tragedienne Amina Rizq". The incident to which Marei was referring occurred when Dakrouri, who was pleading for medical support for Judge Mohamed Gad Manzalawi, whose treatment for a brain tumour in Germany was suspended after the Justice Ministry refused to meet the costs, could not hold back his tears. Even after the Higher Administrative Court ruled in Manzalawi's favour, obliging the Justice Ministry to bear all treatment costs, Marei continued to drag his heels on the issue. In the face of repeated rumours that 10 August's emergency general assembly would be delayed, judges insist it will go ahead as planned. "The date of the general assembly was published in newspapers, and nothing is going to delay it," club board member Amr Gomaa told Al-Ahram Weekly. During the general assembly judges will consider several options, among them filing a LE10 million lawsuit against the minister for slander and naming 1 October -- the beginning of the judicial year -- as a day of mourning, on which a black book will be published itemising the Justice Ministry's assault on the integrity of judges. Sources at the State Council Judges Club believe that President Hosni Mubarak's order that a committee be formed, headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, to evaluate the performance of the Justice Ministry since Marei took over in August 2006, marks the beginning of end of Marei's tenure. Earlier, Hosni Mubarak had interfered in Manzalawi's case, ordering that the state should bear the cost of his treatment, a gesture viewed by many as a blow to Marei. The minister's remarks about Dakrouri are not the only cause of judges' anger. Beside insulting Dakrouri, says Gomaa, Marei cast aspersions on all judges working for the administrative courts when he questioned the validity of the Higher Administrative Court's ruling in favour of Manzalawi. "The minister has flagrantly violated all the principles and traditions of the judiciary," the club said in an angry statement issued on 26 July. Four days later, on 30 July, Dakrouri headed to the office of the Prosecutor- General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, to file an official complaint against the minister. Following his meeting with Mahmoud, Dakrouri told reporters that the prosecutor- general had promised to investigate the complaint, but also drew attention to a possible conflict of interest given that, under the newly amended judiciary law, the prosecutor-general's office is itself affiliated to the Justice Ministry. Judicial sources see Mubarak's interference in the current clash between judges and Marei as an indication that the minister will be dismissed in the coming cabinet reshuffle. When he was appointed in 2006 via a limited cabinet reshuffle, many judges thought Marei had been selected to spearhead moves to undermine judges clubs and silence their more outspoken members who had heavily criticised the raft of constitutional amendments which, among other things, ended full judicial supervision of elections. They are tasks Marie pursued with vigour. Now that the job is done, say judges, the regime will be happy to let Marei go. Following Mubarak's intervention, say sources, Marei has expressed readiness to make a telephone apology to Dakrouri. The ministry has also recently acted to comply with several court rulings in favour of state council judges. As far as Marei is concerned, it is probably too little, and too late.
