The decision was published in the official gazette on Wednesday.

Former ambassador Moshira Khattab will serve as chairman of the council and Ambassador Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud as deputy chairman.

In October, parliament approved the reconstitution of the NCHR with 27 members, according to the 2003 law regulating the tasks of the council.

The board comprises human rights advocates and other public figures, including prominent human rights activists George Ishak and Nehad Abul-Qomsan, political science professor and writer Nevine Mosaad, and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Weekly and Ahram Online Ezzat Ibrahim.

It also includes journalist Mahmoud Saad, lawyer and human rights activist Essam Shiha, and Chairman of the Reform and Development Party Mohamed Anwar Esmat El-Sadat.

The council is entrusted with supervising the human rights situation in Egypt, releasing periodical reports, and recommending new legislation that can improve the conditions of human rights.