CAIRO: Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marie should be removed from office for his "violent and aggressive policies towards the country's judges, wrote prominent lawyer Farid Al-Dib in an article published in Al-Masry Al-Youm. Al-Dib described the day that Marie was appointed minister as a "black day. He said the minister had "mistreated some judges and insulted others and caused a lot of problems, some of which were solved by the intervention of President Hosni Mubarak. Al-Dib stressed in his article that Mubarak has always supported an independent judicial system and had always given the judges their due respect. "All of this fervent upheaval was caused by one person only: Marie, Al-Dib said in his article headlined "Open Letter to the President. "The Egyptian judges are at the forefront of the believers in the [Mubarak] system. They love you so much Mr President . they do not deserve from one of your employees [referring to the Minster of Justice] such aggression, conspiracy and violence, wrote Al-Dib. Two weeks ago, Marie had retracted a controversial article in a draft law regulating the judiciary following heavy criticism. The article would have given the ministry sweeping authority of the judges, allowing it to strip them of immunity and penalize them when it sees fit. Marie's retraction was announced at a press conference at the ministry. A week before the announcement, the Center of Independent Judges and Lawyers, which includes members of the Judges' Club, which calls for a free and independent judicial council, issued a strongly worded statement denouncing the proposed law. This is the first time Marie responds positively to judges' demands; their relationship is usually tense and often escalates to direct confrontations. Last July, Yehia Ragheb Dakroury, chairman of the Judges' Club, filed a lawsuit against Marie at the State Council, accusing him of insulting judges. Dakroury's complaint was one of a series of accusations exchanged between the Judges' Club and Marie that continued for two weeks. Yet, not all judges agree with Al-Dib. Judge Hisham Al-Bastawisy, vice chairman of the Egyptian Court of Appeals, told Daily News Egypt that the judges don't have a problem with the minister in person, but with his decisions that contradict with judicial independence. Al-Bastawisy, who was recently appointed representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Egypt, said that he sees hope in Mubarak's electoral program that promised "freedom and honor to the judicial system. However, "We need to see these words implemented in reality, Al-Bastawisy said.
