Several professional syndicates from journalists, lawyers, judges, and entities like the National Dialogue have voiced serious concerns over the proposed law, calling for a more comprehensive review and insisting that the bill should not be rushed into approval.

Ahram Online will focus on the controversy surrounding the new draft law in this explainer.

A history of criminal procedures law
 

The criminal procedures law outlines the legal steps for investigating, prosecuting, and trying criminal cases, ensuring fairness and transparency in the justice system. It protects the rights of both the accused and victims, maintaining public order while safeguarding individual freedoms.

In other words, according to legal experts, the criminal procedures law constitutes the essence of any country's legal system.

Egypt's first criminal procedures law was introduced in 1875 under the "law of criminal investigations." This law was derived from the French law issued in 1810 and applied to mixed courts that dealt with legal disputes between Egyptians and foreigners.

In 1883, the "national law of criminal investigations" was issued for application in national courts dealing with Egyptians only. It was amended in 1904.

After the abolition of foreign privileges in 1937, a new criminal investigations law was enacted in 1949. The current criminal procedures law was issued in October 1950 and has since undergone numerous amendments up to the present day. The last major amendments were adopted officially in January 2024.

The government originally drafted a new criminal procedures law in 2017. But it never passed the parliament’s general session.

According to a statement issued by the House of Representatives, the House’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee's subcommittee was tasked with drafting the new law at the end of the previous parliamentary session.

The House added that the draft law resulted from two years of collaborative efforts between the subcommittee and the main committee. The law, the House resumed, reflects the spirit of the Egyptian constitution and meets societal needs while considering legal and human rights requirements, specifically the National Human Rights Strategy launched in 2022.

The new criminal procedures law includes 540 articles.

The subcommittee stated that it included the recommendations of legal experts from relevant ministries, such as the Ministries of Parliamentary Affairs, Justice, and the Interior. It also considered the input of representatives from the Senate, the Supreme Judicial Council, the State Council, the Public Prosecution, the Council of Ministers’ Advisory Board, the National Council for Human Rights, and the Bar Association.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee announced finalizing its review of the draft criminal procedures law prepared by its subcommittee, giving it its approval.  

In the past two weeks, however, the Journalist Syndicate, the Bar Association, and human rights NGOs and activists were the first to announce their rejection of some of the articles in the new draft law.

They were later joined by the Judges Club, Egypt’s main union of judges nationwide, which took the controversy about the draft to another level.

Bar Association: lawyers’ objections
 

Egypt’s Bar Association in Cairo is among the first to raise objections to the draft criminal procedures law.

Abdel-Halim Allam, the head of the Bar Association, stated that the syndicate had formally submitted its concerns and recommendations concerning 10 articles in the bill to the Egyptian House of Representatives.

A statement issued by the Bar Association said preparations for the draft law had been inadequate and had not included a comprehensive dialogue in legal circles, which would have allowed judges, lawyers, professors of law, and concerned civil society organizations to have a say.

The statement added that the draft gives excessive powers to police officers and imposes restrictions on lawyers defending clients before courts.

In its statement, the Bar Association criticized Article 72 of the new draft law, which prohibits lawyers from speaking without the prosecutor's permission, stating that it undermines the right to defence and describing it as lacking "legislative support."

Article 73, which regulates access to case documents, was also criticized for restricting the defendant or their lawyer's access to these papers. The syndicate further condemned the absence of amendments to provisions allowing investigators to withhold documents from lawyers under vague pretexts like necessity or urgency.

Additionally, the Bar Association objected to Article 274 of the law, which permits the court to prevent the defendant or their lawyer from continuing if they deviate from the subject or repeat their arguments.

And yet, the position of the Bar Association has since evolved. According to Allam, the syndicate withdrew its objections after the legislative committee in parliament addressed many of its concerns.

Allam cited Article 242 of the law as a case in point. According to this article, in case a lawyer’s actions are deemed disruptive or criminal during a court session, the session’s president will document the incident. The case may then be referred to the Public Prosecution for investigation, or to the court president for disciplinary action. The Bar Association will also be informed, and no session member will participate in reviewing the case.

Despite this shift, Allam emphasized that the Bar Association awaits the final drafting of several contentious articles.

Journalists Syndicate: Safeguarding Press Freedoms

Khaled El-Balshy, the head of the Journalists Syndicate, has been an outspoken critic of the proposed criminal procedures law, particularly regarding its potential impact on press freedom. This brought back an attack from the House of Representatives members, leading other syndicates like the Engineers Syndicate to declare their support for El-Balshy.

In his view, the draft law includes provisions that could be weaponized to restrict journalistic activities and limit the scope of media coverage on sensitive issues.

El-Balshy affirmed that the syndicate is currently finalising its observations on the draft, which will then be submitted to the relevant parliamentary and governmental bodies.

He noted that two specific clauses within the draft law are of particular concern to journalists, as they could be used to impose constraints on reporting and investigative journalism. 

The first is Article 266 of the new draft law, which states that court sessions cannot be broadcast or recorded in any way without prior written approval from the presiding judge after consulting the Public Prosecution.

Journalists argue that this wording makes the default "no coverage" of sessions, rather than limiting it to specific exceptions.

The second is Article 15, which allows criminal courts or the Court of Cassation to file criminal cases against individuals for actions outside the courtroom that may disrupt its orders, disrespect it, or influence the court or witnesses.

Critics claim that this expands the court's authority to the public sphere, potentially affecting media discussions and social media posts.

Judges Club: the court proceeding concerns
 

Egypt’s Judges Club, on the other hand, stated on Wednesday that it approved the 2017 original draft law but had concerns about this draft law.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Judges Club expressed concerns about the amendments of Article 242 based on the recommendations of the Bar Association.

According to the Judges Club, the change in the article could negatively impact courtroom proceedings and limit the judge's ability to maintain order.

It stressed that interference with the judge's authority to manage court sessions could hinder the pursuit of justice and affect parties' equality. The Judges Club pointed out that the Supreme Judicial Council, the Public Prosecution, and the Ministry of Justice share the Club’s concerns.

The National Dialogue re-submitting recommendations for the second time
 

The Board of Trustees of Egypt's National Dialogue announced Sunday that it will reformulate some of its recommendations on pretrial detention provisions in the criminal procedures law, currently under the House's review, and submit them to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

According to the Board of Trustees, this step comes after some of the National Dialogue's previous recommendations were not included in the draft law despite their importance.

In August, the National Dialogue submitted 24 recommendations on pretrial detention and criminal justice reform to President El-Sisi, with 20 gaining full consensus.

Consequently, El-Sisi instructed the government to implement the reforms.

The Parliament integrated several of these recommendations into the new draft criminal procedures law, including reducing pretrial detention periods, allowing electronic appeals, and enabling compensation claims for wrongful detention.

Current status of the draft law
 

Following the initial approval of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee last week, the draft criminal procedures law will be presented to parliament’s general session for voting.

If approved, the law will be sent to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for approval and ratification.

Upon receiving the president's approval, it will be published in the Official Gazette. However, if the president objects to the law, he can return it to the House of Representatives for reconsideration.

The House of Representatives said on Thursday “it remains open to discussing any further amendments to the new criminal procedures law that may be deemed necessary as long as they aim to establish an efficient justice system and enhance public rights and freedoms.”