The request filed by the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) to appeal against the recently passed investment law has been approved by the Administrative Court, the centre said in a Sunday statement.
The permit will allow ECESR to challenge the constitutionality of amendments made in the investment law, recently passed by interim president Adly Mansour. The cabinet approved the law earlier this month.
The amendments state that no third party may challenge the validity of the agreements made between the government and investors.
“Third parties who might witness cases of corruption can’t challenge the contract,” the ECESR said, adding that “this [corruption] has [taken place] in previous cases”.
The ECESR sent a memorandum to the Administrative Court, basing it on previous rulings made by the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. The previous ruling denied the state the right to issue such laws which defy “transparency and can directly lead to corruption”.
Since the 2011 uprising, Egyptian courts have issued around 11 rulings that ordered the state to reverse privatisation deals signed by former president Hosni Mubarak. One of the most famous cases was the renationalization of Omar Effendi from Saudi investors.
Several cases are ongoing in the courts tackling contracts between the state and the investors. One of the most high profile of these is that of Mexican cement company CEMEX, which bought 90% of Assiut Cement in 1990 and is appealing against a ruling renationalising the latter.
