On August 21, 2024, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced his support for an amendment to article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which governs periods of pretrial detention.
Under the current Law No. 150 of 1950 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, article 143 stipulates that pretrial detention is six months for misdemeanor cases, 18 months for felonies, and two years for felonies punishable by death or life imprisonment. Under the draft amendment, pretrial detention for these categories would be reduced to four months, 12 months, and 18 months, respectively.
More broadly, on August 20, 2024, Tariq Radwan, the Charman of the Human Rights Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives, said Egypt’s House of Representatives is currently studying a draft law to amend many provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Radwan added that representatives from the Constitutional Committee and the Committee on National Security also have reviewed the proposed draft. The proposal would amend 365 out of the 461 provisions of the current code. Radwan noted the current code was drafted seventy-four years ago and needs to be updated.
Proposed Amendments
Some of the proposed amendments of the draft law focus on the usage of technology to conduct criminal procedures, such as the usage of modern means of communication in investigation, conducting trials via video conference, hearing witnesses’ testimony remotely, and the possibility of presenting digital evidence. The proposal emphasizes the rights of the accused, such as requiring arresting officers to inform the accused of the right to legal representation upon arrest. The draft law also emphasizes the concealment of witnesses’ identities during criminal trials for their own safety. To ensure transparency and accountability, it would obligate investigative judges to justify their pretrial detention decisions in writing.
Reactions
The Freedoms Committee of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate and the Egyptian Lawyers’ Syndicate voiced their opposition to some of the proposed provisions. For instance, the Freedoms Committee issued a statement claiming that article 267 of the draft law, which restricts publishing information on legal matters that could interfere with the course of justice, would have a negative effect on the work of journalism. The committee has called the Egyptian parliament to redraft this provision to protect the work of journalists and the right to access information.
Similarly, the Egyptian Lawyers’ Syndicate issued a statement arguing that the preparation of the proposed draft law has been “inadequate,” in that it has not been discussed thoroughly among judges, lawyers, professors, and concerned civil society organizations. The syndicate said some provisions of the proposed law grant law enforcement personnel excessive powers during the investigative stage while restricting the work of defense attorneys.
George Sadek, Law Library of Congress
September 18, 2024
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