Criminal Procedures Law approved - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
The law includes six sections which cover criminal prosecution, evidence collection, courts, appeals, enforcement, and international judicial cooperation over criminal matters.
The law, which initially consisted of 540 articles, gained four new articles during the debate. One gave the justice minister the authority to issue executive orders to implement the law, and another that annuls capital punishment when reconciliation is accepted by the victims' family, in accordance with Islamic Sharia.
Gebali said that for decades, legislative stagnation had affected criminal procedures 'and during those decades numerous efforts have attempted to formulate a modern law for Egypt that is worthy of the aspirations of its people, but they have stumbled repeatedly. The current parliament is credited with having breathed the spirit of change into outdated texts, redrafting them to keep pace with modern times and which respond to the needs of society.'
Gebali explained how the drafting of the law began with the formation of a subcommittee, a unique parliamentary precedent, consisting of MPs, officials, and legal specialists. 'This committee changed into a vibrant workshop and its door was opened to listen to views from all ideological backgrounds because it honestly believes that constructive dialogue leads to balanced and credible legislation,' he said. Representatives from the Bar Association, the National Council for Human Rights, the Senate, and the Interior Ministry took part in the debates.
Gebali added that 'we do not claim perfection in drafting and discussing this law because we know that it will have to be amended every now and then to be in line with changing times.'
Justice Minister Adnan Al-Fangari described the approval of the new law as a defining moment in the history of Egypt because it preserves constitutional rights, serves the interests of society, and affirms commitment to its security and stability. 'It also guarantees fair trials, reinforces respect of human rights and reduces the length of pretrial detention,' Al-Fangari said.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mahmoud Fawzi said the final approval of the new law should be viewed as an exceptional moment in the history of Egypt's legal and parliamentary system. 'The new legislation will replace the law which has been in place since 1951, thanks in large part to cooperation between the government and parliament,' Fawzi said.
The Criminal Procedures Law included a number of articles that sparked widespread controversy among lawyers, journalists, judges and the National Dialogue's Board of Trustees. Most of the criticism was directed at Article 123 which relates to pretrial detention. The Press Syndicate proposed that pretrial detention be revoked altogether in favour of alternatives such as electronic surveillance and house arrest. The proposal was rejected by Justice Ministry consultants as 'impractical'.
Minister Al-Fangari said Article 123 includes guarantees that excessive and indefinite use of pretrial detention will not be used and that it meets the demands of civil society.
The final draft of Article 123 reduces the maximum period of pretrial detention for misdemeanours from four to six months, for felonies from 12 to 18, and for crimes that carry the death penalty or life imprisonment from 18 to 24 months.
Article 523 was another sticking point. It states that individuals wrongly detained pending trial are entitled to financial compensation from the government but stipulates that individuals seeking compensation have not been detained pending trial in other cases and have been acquitted of all charges.
Three articles — 79, 80, and 82 — also triggered a backlash. The articles allow prosecutors, after obtaining permission from a judge, to issue an order to seize all letters, messages, telegrams, newspapers, publications, and parcels, and to order the monitoring of wired and wireless communications, social media accounts and applications and their various contents that are not available to everyone, emails, text messages, and audio and video messages, and to place specific mobile phones, electronic websites and other technical devices under surveillance, and to make recordings of conversations that take place in private. The orders to seize, view, monitor or record must be for a period not exceeding 30 days. The judge may renew this period for one or more similar periods.
Fawzi argued that these articles were necessary because they are considered useful measures in revealing the truth in a felony or misdemeanour.
According to Fawzi, the bill includes articles that protect private lives and guarantee personal freedoms. First, he said, the law explicitly stipulates that homes are inviolable and may be entered, searched, monitored, and eavesdropped only after obtaining a judicial order specifying the place, time and purpose thereof. 'The law does not give police officers free reign to search homes,' said Fawzi.
He indicated that for the first time the law allows the use of technology to notify defendants of legal proceedings and conduct remote trials. A telephone notification centre with the jurisdiction of each district court affiliated with the Justice Ministry will be established and linked to the Civil Status Sector to send telephone and electronic notifications, a step that represents a breakthrough in the judicial system in Egypt.
The law also restricts the authority of travel ban orders to be within the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor or his deputy, or the competent investigating judge. It stipulates that the ban order be issued with reasons for a specific period. Individuals will also have the right to appeal the order while the court should adjudicate it within a period not exceeding 15 days from the date of it being reported.
The law also provides effective legal protection for witnesses, informants, experts, victims and defendants, and adding further guarantees for the right to a defence by establishing the principle of no trial without a lawyer, which allows each defendant to have a lawyer present. In the event that there is no lawyer, the draft law obliges the investigating or trial authority to appoint a lawyer to defend the defendant at all stages of investigation and trial, activating the protection of the rights of women and children and providing the necessary assistance to people with disabilities and the elderly.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Egypt Independent
a day ago
- Egypt Independent
Egypt, European Bank to launch €10 Million projects account
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a new presidential decree, #146 of 2025, approving a cooperation agreement to establish a Projects Account in Egypt between the Egyptian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with a capital of 10 million Euros. The House of Representatives, headed by Counselor Hanafi al-Gebali, had approved the presidential decree during its general session on May 11. The agreement aims to create the 'Projects Account in Egypt' with the goal of accelerating the launch of investment projects by financing feasibility studies and technical consultations. It also seeks to reduce the time it takes to begin implementing public-private partnership (PPP) projects from one year to two months. The project is expected to attract both local and foreign investment through simplified procedures and technical support.
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Mostaqbal Watan dominates Egypt's Senate elections with sweeping win - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
Official results from last week's Senate elections show that the pro-government Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) Party has swept the polls. Hazem Badawi, head of the National Elections Authority (NEA), announced in a press conference on Tuesday that 17.1 per cent (11.3 million) of the 69.33 million eligible voters had cast their ballots during the four-day polls in Egypt and abroad. This is higher than the turnout for the 2020 elections when just 14 per cent of voters went to the polls and for the 2012 Shura Council elections when 12 per cent cast their ballots. Badawi said the increase in the turnout was due to young people being keen to participate in the polls. Ahmed Bendari, chair of the board of the NEA, said the 2025 elections came at a time when the region is facing major challenges. As a result, the military and Interior Ministry had intensified measures to secure the balloting and ensure a safe environment for citizens as they cast their votes. Bendari said the two-day vote was held at 8,286 polling stations across the country and fully supervised by 9,500 judges, as well as 18 NEA-approved embassies, 67 local and international civil-society organisations, and 230 local and foreign media outlets. Results from the Senate elections published and analysed by the Tahya Masr website show that of the 100 individual seats being contested in the first round, Mostaqbal Watan gained 58. Two of Mostaqbal Watan's candidates will face a run-off on 27 and 28 August. The results will be announced on 4 September. In second place came the Homat Al-Watan (Protectors of the Homeland) Party, which won 22 individual seats, followed by the National Front Party, which secured nine individual seats, and the People's Republican Party, which got five individual seats. As a result, the four pro-government parties won 94 individual seats. However, six of their candidates will face a run-off. In Cairo, Mostaqbal Watan won seven of the 10 contested individual seats, and in Alexandria it won three out of seven. The list of the party's winners in Cairo include high-profile businessmen like construction magnate Ahmed Sabbour, stockbroker Mohamed Al-Manzlawi, and industrialists Gamal Abul-Fotouh, Mohamed Halawa, and Mohamed Mazloum. Mostaqbal Watan is a supporter of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi's economic reform, privatisation, and anti-terrorism policies. In the party list seats, the 100-candidate National Unified List (NUL) led by Mostaqbal Watan won uncontested. Badawi said that the list was able to secure more than the five per cent necessary to be declared the winner. Prominent names on the list include Deputy Chairman of Mostaqbal Watan Hossam Al-Khouli, Secretary-General of Mostaqbal Watan Essam Hilal, Editor-in-Chief of the leftist Tagammu Party's newspaper Al-Ahali Amina Al-Naqash, Wafd Party Secretary-General Tarek Abdel-Aziz Al-Tohami, and prominent businessman Mohamed Al-Morshedi. In second place after Mostaqbal Watan came the pro-government Homat Al-Watan Party, which fielded 25 individual candidates. Founded by Galal Haridi, former commander of the Egyptian Army Commandos, Homat Al-Watan won 22 individual seats. In third place was the newly founded National Front Party, which is led by former housing minister Assem Al-Gazzar. Its 12 individual candidates won nine seats. The pro-government People's Republican Party, which is supported by iron and steel tycoon Ahmed Abu Hashima, managed to win five seats, one each in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Fayoum, Sharqiya, and Alexandria. The results show that 44 of the winners on the 100-candidate NUL are affiliated with Mostaqbal Watan, 19 with Homat Al-Watan Party, 12 with the National Front, five with the People's Republican Party, five with the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, four with the Reform and Development Party, four with the opposition Adl (Justice) Party, two with the opposition Wafd Party, two with the leftist Tagammu Party, one with the Will of a Generation Party, one with the Freedom Party, and one with the Congress Party. Overall results for both individual and party list seats show that Mostaqbal Watan won 102 seats (58 individual and 44 list), Homat Al-Watan 41 (19 individual and 22 list), the National Front 21 (nine individual and 12 list) and the People's Republican Party 10 (five individual and five list). This means that the four pro-government parties secured a total of 174 seats (around 75 per cent) out of the 200 contested. Another seven political parties got 20 seats as they were on the 100-candidate NUL which won uncontested. This means that 194 candidates managed to secure seats in the next Senate. Run-offs will be held next week to elect the remaining six candidates. In the outgoing 2020-2025 Senate, Mostaqbal Watan had 149 seats or almost 50 per cent of the total. The first round of the Senate elections was held on 1-2 August for Egyptian expatriates and on 4-5 August at home. A total of 424 individual candidates and one-party list were competing for 200 seats in the Senate, created as part of the constitutional amendments approved in a referendum in 2019. The list of individual candidates included 183 independents and 241 candidates affiliated with 33 political parties. They ran in 27 districts across Egypt with each district representing an entire governorate. The 100 candidates on the one-party list ran in four districts. Two of these (Cairo and South and Middle Delta and North and Middle and South of Upper Egypt) are allocated 74 seats (37 each), and the other two (East Delta and West Delta) are allocated 26 seats. The new Senate, whose term is set at five years, will have 300 members. One third is elected via the individual candidacy system, one third through closed party lists, and a final third named by the president. * A version of this article appears in print in the 14 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
4 days ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt PM discusses amendments to human rights council law with NCHR chairman
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed proposed amendments to the law governing the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) with the council's acting chairman, Mahmoud Karem, on Monday, according to a statement from the NCHR. The proposed changes are intended to align the law with the Paris Principles, which provide international standards for national human rights institutions. Madbouly informed Karem that a cabinet advisory board is reviewing the amendments before they are sent to the House of Representatives for discussion "as soon as possible," the statement said. The prime minister also affirmed his commitment to ensuring the NCHR has the legal guarantees necessary to enhance its independence, per the Egyptian constitution. He said such steps aim to reflect Egypt's international standing in its engagement with U.N. mechanisms and its efforts to protect citizens' rights. Karem said that, following Madbouly's directive, meetings were held with the cabinet's advisory board to review the amendments as part of a coordinated effort to create an effective legislative framework for the council's activities. He expressed hope that the amendments would be finalized promptly. The meeting also touched on the broader human rights situation in Egypt and the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy, as well as its integration with the country's Sustainable Development Strategy (Egypt Vision 2030). Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
