The presidential office said on Sunday that President Mohamed Morsi had on 12 July ratified Law 79, passed on 11 June by the now-dissolved People's Assembly to regulate the process of electing members of the Constituent Assembly - a law which had been ignored by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the country's de facto executive power at the time.

Article 1 of Law 79 states: "In accordance with Article 60 of the Constitutional Declaration [issued by the SCAF and approved by popular referendum on 19 March 2011], elected members of parliament will appoint the Constituent Assembly's 100 members within two months of the Law's issuance."

Observers argue the ratified law could prevent the Administrative Court from ruling on Tuesday on an appeal challenging the legality of the procedures by which members of parliament selected the current Constituent Assembly - the body tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country - and might force the court to refer the whole case to the High Constitutional Court.

In April, the first Constituent Assembly was formally dissolved by order of the Administrative Court on procedural grounds.