The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) has scheduled the first hearing to rule on the constitutionality of the controversial Protest Law for 14 December, according to a statement by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Right (ECESR) Tuesday. The law was issued by Former Interim President Adly Mansour in November 2013. Many activists have been detained for violating the law, including activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, a transitional expert in Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights (EIPR) Yara Sallam and Human rights activist Mahinour Al-Masr. They have been charged with illegal assembly and protesting without authorisation. Rights groups have reiterated criticism on the law, stating that it infringes rights for freedom of assembly and expression as dictated by the constitution. Earlier in November, Egypt faced a United Nations Universal Periodic Review where delegations from several countries, including the US, UK, Germany and Sweden called for the amendment of the law. The United Nations Human Rights Council handed Egypt 300 recommendations in which the Protest Law was referred to at least 13 times. The Council called for the amendment of the law to bring it in line with international standards.
