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Rule of Law in Egypt

Original contribution by Hatem Elliesie, lawyer and doctoral student at the Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany.


Panel

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The year 2005 marked a turning point for rule of law and democratization promotion in Egypt.\[[1]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn1\] Against the backdrop of unrelenting breaches of the rule of law while under pressure from the US government, President Muhammad Husnī Mubārak announced his attention to hold the first multiparty elections in 2005, a landmark decision in 24 years of his presidency.\[__[2]__\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn2\] The influence of the United States of America over the course of the 2005 presidential\[__[3]__\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn3\] \_and_ parliament elections\[[4]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn4\] combined with the prospect of political transition considering a possible succession by the President's son Gamāl Mubārak, led the regime to change, if only cosmetically, its discourse.\[[5]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn5\] During the election, however, newspapers around the world widely reported on the "judges' revolt"\[[6]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn6\]. The judiciary, supported by civil society, confronted the executive by denouncing the fraudulent results of the constitutional referendum, as well as the presidential and legislative elections. The "judges' revolt" was a test case for external promoters of the rule of law in Egypt: Some judges voiced a desire to supervise the entire electoral process and took the opportunity of the presidential campaign to request full independence from the (prepotent) executive within the overall national structures. For the presidential elections, a new electoral commission composed of magistrates (50 per cent) and other public figures close to the government, was established to supervise the ballot. Although part of the judiciary agreed to such an institutional novelty, some judges pointed to the fact that their "integrity  \[was\] being used to lend credibility to process over which they have only a limited control".\[[7]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn7\] In Egypt's post independence overall discourse on the rule of law, the developments around the 2005 elections constituted another episode in the long-running conflict between the executive and the judiciary.\[[8]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn8\] The Egyptian system, with its French inspired hierarchical courts, positivist orientation, and reliance on state-codified law has enforced executive will fairly faithfully for over a century. With the legislative authority clearly (if at times unofficially) under executive domination, it would be surprising if matters have been otherwise.\[[9]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftn9\]

I. Rule of Law in Egypt's Context


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\----\[[1]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref1\] Sarah Wolff, 'Constraints on the Promotion of the Rule of Law in Egypt: Insights from the 2005 Judges' Revolt, \_Democratization,_ Volume 16, No. 1, Taylor and Francis Group, London 2009, p. 100 and p. 111.
\[[2]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref2\] Cf., in more detail, International Crisis Group, \_Reforming Egypt: In Search of a Strategy,_ Middle East / North Africa Report N° 46, International Crisis Group, Cairo / Brussels 4. October 2005.
\[[3]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref3\] Cf. Kristen A. Stilt, 'Constitutional Authority and Subversion: Egypt's New Presidential Election System', \_Indiana International and Comparative Law Review,_ volume 16, issue 2, Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis, 2006, p. 335; Michael A. Lange, 'Das Ergebnis der ägyptischen Präsidentschaftswahlen', _Kairo News: Wahlen 2005-3 - Ein neues sechsjähriges Mandat für Hosni Mubarak\!,_ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Länderbüro Kairo, Cairo, 2005, pp. 2-4; Volker Perthes, _Pharaos Wiederwahl: Ägypten auf dem Weg zu politischem Wettbewerb_ (SWP Aktuell 40), Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, September 2005. See also Vincent Durac, 'The Impact of external actors on the Distribution of Power in the Middle East: The Case of Egypt', _The Journal of North African Studies,_ volume 14, issue 1, Taylor & Francis, London 2009, pp. 75 et seqq. (on p.80).
\[[4]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref4\] See in more detail Michael A. Lange, \_Kairo News: Wahlen 2005-5a - Die ägyptischen Parlamentswahlen 2005 (Der I. Wahlgang),_ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Länderbüro Kairo, Cairo 2005; Michael A. Lange, _Kairo News: Wahlen 2005-5c - Die ägyptischen Parlamentswahlen 2005 (Der II. Wahlgang),_ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Länderbüro Kairo, Cairo 2005; Michael A. Lange, _Kairo News: Wahlen 2005-5c - Die ägyptischen Parlamentswahlen 2005 (Der III. Wahlgang),_ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Länderbüro Kairo, Cairo 2005.
\[[5]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref5\] Maha Abdelrahman, 'The Nationalisation of the Human Rights Debate in Egypt', \_Nations and Nationalism_ (Journal of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism), Volume 13, Issue 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007, pp. 285 et seqq. (on p. 296).
\[[6]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref6\] Cf. e.g. 'La révolte des juges égyptiens', \_Le Monde_, Paris, 10 May 2006; Mahmud Mekki / Hisham Bastawisi, 'When Judges are beaten, Democracy in Egypt must grow from the Streets, not be imposed by Western Self-Interest", The Guardian, London, 10 May 2006; &nbsp;See also [Mohamed Abdel Azim|http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=auteurs&obj=artiste&no=12874]<span style="color: windowtext">,</span> <span style="color: windowtext"><strong>'</strong></span><span style="color: windowtext">La naissante pratique démocratique en Egypte: La révolte des juges',</span> <span style="color: windowtext"><em>Actualite Sociale et Politque</em></span><span style="color: windowtext">,</span> <span style="color: #666666">September 2006,</span> <span style="color: black">available at:</span> [http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=article&no=6092|http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=article&no=6092] \[accessed 28 November 2009\].
\[[7]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref7\] Nathan J. Brown / Hesham Nasr, \_Egypt's Judges Step Forward: The Judicial Election Boycott and Egyptian Reform,_ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Policy Outlook - Democracy and Law, Washington D.C. 2005, p. 4.
\[[8]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref8\] Sarah Wolff, 'Constraints on the Promotion of the Rule of Law in Egypt: Insights from the 2005 Judges' Revolt, \_Democratization,_ Volume 16, No. 1, Taylor and Francis Group, London 2009, p. 100 and p. 105; see also Huda Abū Bakr, 'al-qudā: alla{+}d{+}īna istaba'dūnā min al-'ishrāf al-kāmil 'ala ath-intikhābāt min lā'bī al-thalātha waraqāt wa-'ijrā'uhā fī yawm wāhad ma'nāhu at-tazwīr', _Sawt el-'Umma_, No. 317, Cairo, 1 January 2007, p. 2.
\[[9]\|http://wikis.fu-berlin.de/#_ftnref9\] Nathan Brown, \_The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf,_ Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York / Melbourne, 1997, p. 118.