The Administrative Court postponed on Tuesday a trial session looking into the first lawsuit filed against the ratification of the controversial and now-approved Judicial Authority Law to 13 June, after the request of the government’s legal defence team and the plaintiff’s.
The new law is set to regulate methods of appointing the heads of judicial authorities in the country.
Earlier this month, prominent lawyer Essam El-Eslamboly filed the lawsuit demanding the suspension of the enforcement of the law until the issue is settled by the court, while urging that the law includes unconstitutional articles. Therefore, he suggested referring it to the Constitutional Court to check the validity of these articles.
The new amendments made to the law grant the president the power to select the head of each authority, after they were previously selected based on seniority.
Two weeks ago, the law was ratified by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, a few days after the parliament’s approval.
There were waves of rejection expressed by judicial bodies against the law, believing that the new amendments violate the independence of the judiciary. However, following the law’s approval, these bodies stated that they will respect the law despite their opposition.
The only entity that remained in opposition was the Judges Club, which is planning to prepare a new bill for the appointment of the heads of judicial authorities.
