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Egypt proposes constitutional change to protect president

June 24, 2015 at 11:11 am

Law professors and constitutional experts are opposing a draft law proposed by the Egyptian government to protect the next parliament from being dissolved, saying that it would also grant the president immunity from accountability for his actions.

According to sources, the Egyptian government has sent a letter to the Supreme Constitutional Court requesting a judicial opinion on modifying two articles in the Court Act.

The first would remove a condition on the court to discuss elections laws within a specific period; the second prevents the court from ruling with unconstitutional election laws until the parliament ends its term in order to avoid dissolving it.

The amendments were proposed by Minister of Transitional Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Judge Ibrahim Huneidi, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.

“If all of the state institutions are immune from accountability, who will protect the people?” asked Professor Mohamed Nour Farahat, one of the experts opposing the changes.