CAIRO: The upcoming parliamentary session is expected to discuss three main draft laws pertaining to the Ministry of Justice's legal specialists' demands, the plight of Egyptian expats and organ transplants. The parliamentary session is scheduled to start in November. After meeting with the Chairman of the People's Assembly (PA) Fathi Sorour last Saturday, Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marei promised to send the PA a memo summing up legal specialists' problems to be discussed by the PA's legislative committee. The meeting came after Sorour criticized the minister for failing to attend a meeting he conducted with the PA's legislative committee and the specialists on Sept. 9 to discuss their demands. "I would have loved if the Ministry of Justice, represented in its minister, were present in this meeting to listen to the problems that specialists complain of and acknowledge the role of the parliament whose main job is to monitor the government's performance, provide legislations and laws that abide by the constitution, Sorour told the press. According to Sorour, the PA is responsible for dealing with the specialists' demands because they seek legislative amendments to some laws, which are dealt with by the legislative committee, as well as better pay, which falls under the labor and work force committee. For nearly three months, specialists had been protesting and sleeping in front of the Ministry of Justice demanding the cancellation of periodic book number eight which allows them to examine case files only inside the courtroom. They are also calling for an amendment to Law 96/1952 as well as better pay and work conditions. After a meeting with Sorour, they decided to suspend their protests when he pledged to adopt the new specialists' law and guaranteed that it would be introduced at the upcoming parliamentary session. Moreover, Ahmed Rizk, deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is drafting a new law to protect Egyptians living abroad. The draft law is expected to be discussed in the PA's next session. According to Rizk, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed forming a special committee to monitor the condition of Egyptian expats in coordination with Egyptian embassies. Regarding the organ transplant law, Chairman of the Doctors' Syndicate and Head of the PA's health committee, Hamdy El-Sayyed, told Daily News Egypt that it is "most likely to get resolved in the coming PA session. El-Sayyed is optimistic that the law will see the light soon, saying the government recently took an interest in it since the Ministry of Health has been pushing for it during the two last parliamentary sessions. Egypt does not have a law regulating organ transplant procedures. However, the new law is expected to set a medical definition for death and will allow the different kinds of transplant procedures to take place in a legal and medical framework. It will also lay down harsh criminal and financial punishments on violators.
