An administrative court in Alexandria ruled on Monday that compensation for victims of police torture should be paid from the funds of the convicted, not from the interior ministry's budget.

Earlier in December, the interior ministry had announced that they would require any police officer who was proven to have practiced torture to pay the victim's compensation.

The court ruled in its verdict that "torture is a crime and an unusual, independent mistake for a police officer to go beyond the limits in a way that necessitates compensation from his own money and not from the interior ministry for breaking laws of the constitution; it is also an act that necessitates a criminal trial."

Torture is forbidden by Egypt's 2014 constitution, with Article 52 stating that "torture in all its forms is a crime without a statute of limitations."

Human rights activists argue that torture in police stations and some prisons remains widespread.

The ministry of interior has repeatedly said that it would punish any policemen proved to have tortured prisoners.

There have been several torture cases against policemen during the past months, including in cases where the torture was alleged to have led to death.