File photo of President Morsi swearing-in by the High Constitutional Court (Photo: Ahram)
President Mohamed Morsi held a meeting with Egypt's top judges Monday evening.
Among the attendees were Maher El-Beheiry, head of the High Constitutional Court; Mohamed Metwalli, head of the Court of Cassation and the High Judicial Assembly; Abdallah Omran, head of the State Council; Samir Abu El-Maaty, head of the Court of Appeal; as well as the Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud and heads of other district courts and prosecution offices.
The presidential office said that the president discussed with the judges mechanisms to articulate a new law to regulate parliamentary elections, among other topics.
The meeting comes in the midst of rising tensions between Morsi and the judiciary.
In early July, Morsi issued a presidential decree that reinstated the Islamist-led-parliament which was dissolved in mid-June by the military council which claimed that it was implementing a High Constitutional Court order that rendered some articles in the parliamentary elections law unconstitutional. Two days later, the Constitutional Court indirectly scolded the president's decree by atypically convening an impromtu session to issue a statement highlighting that all of its legal opinions on constitutional matters are final and must be respected.
The meeting comes hours before an Administrative Court examines on Tuesday the legality of the process of formation of Egypt's 100-member Constituent Assembly, which was selected by the now-dissolved parliament.
Moreover, another administrative court is also expected on Tuesday to examine appeals filed against a military-issued constitutional addendum. The appeals, filed by a number of lawyers, call for the suspension of the addendum, which was issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on 17 June limiting, among other things, the powers of the president.
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