CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi swore in Feb. 9 Choose Boulos Fahmy as head of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom, based mostly on a presidential decree issued Feb. 7.
Fahmy replaces Choose Saeed Marie, who was referred to retirement because of poor well being.
The appointment is a historic step, as Fahmy would be the first Coptic Christian choose to preside over a court docket entrusted with monitoring the constitutionality of legal guidelines.
Together with his appointment, Fahmy turns into the fourth oldest choose of the court docket. He was born on Jan. 1, 1957, and is 65 years outdated. He held a number of judicial positions, together with vice chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom in 2010 and 2014 and head of the Cairo Courtroom of Attraction.
Throughout the swearing-in ceremony, Sisi expressed his “appreciation of the vital function of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom, which constitutes an vital episode within the historical past of the Egyptian judiciary.”
In response to a Fb assertion by presidential spokesman Bassam Radi, Sisi additionally expressed “honest needs for the brand new president of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom in deploying efforts, exhibiting dedication and assuming accountability to uphold justice and enforce the law.”
The Supreme Constitutional Court is an unbiased judicial physique tasked with adjudicating the constitutionality of legal guidelines, decoding authorized texts and adjudicating requests to droop the implementation of rulings issued by arbitral tribunals fashioned to settle authorities and public sector disputes. It additionally adjudicates problems with battle of jurisdiction.
Consultants who spoke to Al-Monitor imagine that Sisi’s determination to nominate a Christian as the top of the very best judicial physique within the nation is one more proof of the state of respect for the precept of citizenship. They described the choice as “historic.”
Essam Shiha, human rights lawyer and member of the Nationwide Council for Human Rights, informed Al-Monitor that the historic determination confirms that the nation is transferring in the fitting course towards a first-class human rights republic.
He stated, “The Egyptian management has particular targets that embody constructing a contemporary, democratic and civil state, as citizenship is the premise of rights and duties within the fashionable Egyptian state.”
Shiha famous, “Citizenship and equality had been absent from the political area in Egypt [under former regimes]. However the present regime has a transparent coverage that doesn’t differentiate between Egyptians besides on the premise of competence and integrity.”
He lauded “society’s reward of the Egyptian president’s decision,” and famous that the transfer was an unprecedented qualitative leap that provides hope to each particular person, no matter his faith, of reaching any place they need.
Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb congratulated Fahmy for his appointment as head of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom, and wished him “continued success in defending the structure and attaining justice and the rule of regulation,” in keeping with a publish by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif on Facebook.
Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam additionally congratulated Fahmy in a press sstatement Feb. 10, noting that his appointment comes as sensible implementation and activation of the state of citizenship and the brand new republic.
Allam made it clear that the “Egyptian state at all times serves as a mannequin of attaining citizenship for all with none discrimination on spiritual or ethnic grounds, and that Muslims and Christians are the sons of the identical nation.”
In the meantime, member of parliament Martha Mahrous described in a televised assertion Feb. 9 the choice to nominate Fahmy as a “festive day” for Egyptians, stressing, “The brand new republic in Egypt paves the way in which for the materialization of citizenship, because it selects people based mostly on competence and diligence.”
Egyptian author Fatima Naoot praised Sisi’s determination, as she tweeted, “Historic determination. Welcome to the state of citizenship. Thanks, Egypt. Thanks, president. We dream of a state the place justice reigns.”
In a Feb. 8 press statement, the Nationwide Council for Human Rights praised the historic determination, noting that it “demonstrates the insightful imaginative and prescient and human rights methodology of the Egyptian president.”
Moushira Khattab, head of the Nationwide Council for Human Rights, stated within the assertion that the appointment “is a huge step within the discipline of civil and political rights, because it consolidates the complete enjoyment by each Egyptian of their rights away from any form of discrimination.”
“The choice displays honest dedication to implement the nationwide technique for human rights,” she added.
The Supreme Constitutional Courtroom is of specific political significance as its president is available in third place after the prime minister and the speaker of parliament in terms of changing the president of the republic within the occasion of his incapacity to imagine his duties.
Adly Mansour, who was head of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom in 2013, assumed the presidency of Egypt from July 4, 2013, to June 8, 2014, after former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was faraway from workplace in 2013.
A president-elect additionally takes the constitutional oath earlier than the overall meeting of the Supreme Constitutional Courtroom within the absence of parliament, as was the case with Sisi throughout his first presidential term in 2014.
