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EOHR condemns referring judges to Competency Council and asks the Minister of Justice to cancel the referral decree
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18/4/2006
EOHR is expressing its utmost regret and condemnation of the decree of the Minister of Justice referring judges, Hesham Bastawesy and Mahmoud Meki, the Court of Cassation Judges, to the Competency Council (A special court for judges that looks into their competency to carry on working, it can end services of judges it sees non competent, or referring them to administrative jobs. The council includes 7 members, whom are the President of the Court of Cassation, the two presidents of Cairo and Alexandria Courts of Appeal, eldest 3 judges in the Court of Cassation, beside the Prosecutor General.
Two of the members are appointed, which are the President of the Court of Cassation and the Prosecutor General, by a presidential decree), the decision which may lead to putting an end to their services in the judicial corps, describing the decree as a new slaughter of judges of Egypt.
Information EOHR collected provided that the Minister of Justice issued a decree to refer Hesham Al Bastawesy and Mahmoud Meki the two vice presidents of the Court of Cassation to the Competency Council without a hearing to their sayings and without officially notifying them. The organization found out on a phone call with Hesham Al Bastawesy that he didn't receive an official notification about the decree to the moment, confirming that the referral decree came as a reaction to the judges' revealing of fraud in the latest parliamentary elections, asking for judicial reform and providing safeguards for the independence of the judges. Therefore, the reason behind the decree is to deter judges from talking about the elections breaches and hiding the breaches committed, in order to leave things as they currently are, as he said.
EOHR confirms that the referral decree to the Competency Council is considered the most strict procedure that might be taken against any judge, considering that referral may end up by quitting the judge from his judicial service or transferring him to a non-judicial job, or refusing the referral demand for objective and legal reasons.
In such context, the organization is asking the Minister of Judge to review his decree, as it is considered a wrong decision, because referral to the Competency Council is usually based on a criminal or administrative investigation, and that was not provided. On the other hand, the formation of the Council is not sound, as it cannot be formed of the President of the Court of Cassation and the eldest 3 judges of the Courts of Appeal, beside the eldest 3 judges in the Court of Cassation, as all of those judges are not qualified to consider the case, because they are already prejudiced against the two judges, according to the law.
EOHR confirms that what the judges did during the latest elections is only put an expression for their rights in free opinion and expression, granted to them by the principles of the UN concerning the independence of the judiciary, endorsed by the resolutions of the General Assembly of the UN, 40/32 on November 29th 1985 and 40/146 on December 13th 1985, in which Articles 1, 8 and 9 included the following:
1) The state shall provide judicial authority with independence, and the constitution of the state or its laws shall stipulate that. All governmental institutions and other institutions shall respect the independence of the judiciary.
8) According to the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, any of the members of the judicial authority, as any other citizen, shall has the right to freedom of expression, religious believes and assembly, while judges shall always practice their rights in a manner notwithstanding their judicial posts, dignity and independence of the judiciary.
9) Judges has the right to form associations for judges or other organizations that represent their interests and increase their professional level in order to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
EOHR is expressing its total solidarity with the demands of Egyptian judges by issuing a law safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, with the necessity of letting them see the draft the government is preparing.
EOHR also confirms the necessity of providing enough safeguards to the judges, in order to work independently, without any physical or psychological influences.
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