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Urgent Affairs Court to issue verdict in Red Sea islands case Government supporters took Administrative Court agreement annulment to Urgent Affairs Court
The Cairo Court for Urgent Affairs will issue on 2 April a verdict in the case publicly known as the "Red Sea islands case", state-media reported Sunday. The case concerns the maritime demarcation agreement signed between Egypt and Saudi Arabia last April, according to which the islands of Tiran and Sanafir would be placed under Saudi sovereignty. The lawsuit at the Urgent Affairs Court was filed by lawyer Ahmed Farahat, opposing the Administrative Court's annulment of the deal. In other words, the lawsuit aims at implementing the agreement and transferring the islands to Saudi Arabia. Besides several protests against the agreement and detentions and trials of its opponents, the case also raised a legal dispute with judicial entities entitled to have a say, as the case combines constitutional elements with state affairs. Opponents to the deal took the case to the Administrative Court at the State Council with the government as their legal adversary. The government tried to halt the annulment by appealing to the Urgent Affairs Court. A third argument made by government and parliament officials said the Constitutional Court should first define which judicial body has a say in the case. This argument stems from the government's claim that the agreement was among the state's sovereign affairs, in which courts are not allowed to interfere. On the other hand, the annulment verdict highlighted constitutional Article 151, which stipulates that "in all cases, no treaty may be concluded which is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution or which results in ceding any part of state territories."
