The Legal Experts Committee, tasked with amending the constitution, commenced its work in the chambers of the Shura Council on Sunday. Interim president Adly Mansour issued a decision on Saturday evening to form the committee, as mandated by Article 28 of the 8 July constitutional declaration. The declaration stipulated that the committee would propose amendments to the constitution that was ratified in December 2012. The committee's work, according to the declaration, will continue for 30 days. The committee will then present the amendments to a 50-member constituent assembly consisting of members of various political trends and state and religious institutions. The constituent assembly will work for 60 days, in which it will discuss the proposed amendments and conduct a "social dialogue" before finalising the changes to the constitution. Constitutional advisor to Mansour Ali Awad Saleh, was appointed as rapporteur of the committee. The committee includes ten legal experts who were chosen based on their positions as dictated in the declaration. The ten members are secretary-general of the Supreme Judiciary Council Mohamed Eid Mahgoub, head of the Cairo Appeals Court Hassan Al-Sayed Bassiouny, representatives from the Supreme Constitutional Court Mohamed Abdel Aziz Shenawy and Mohamed Khairy Taha, and Essam El-Din Abdel Aziz and Magdy Al-Aagaty of the Administrative Court. The committee also includes four professors. Fathy Fikry, professor emeritus at the Cairo University Faculty of Law, was selected to be part of the committee, along with dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Zagazig Hamdi Ali Omar, professor emeritus at the Faculty of Law at Mansoura University Salah El-Din Fawzy and professor at the Faculty of Law at Ain Shams University Ali Abdul Aal. Saleh told state-owned Al-Ahram that the committee would operate on an even level between all members, with no chairman or figure wielding authority over the others.
