Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Judges: Nomination of election committee members invalid

In the first flagrant government violation towards the independence of the Supreme Elections Committee, Chancellor Mamdouh Marea, Minister of Justice, issued a decision nominating 700 members of the judicial bodies to supervise the Shura Council's elections, which started its first procedures yesterday.

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In the first flagrant government violation towards the independence of the Supreme Elections Committee, Chancellor Mamdouh Marea, Minister of Justice, issued a decision nominating 700 members of the judicial bodies to supervise the Shura Council's elections, which started its first procedures yesterday.

 

The judges described the decision –which was published in Alahram newspaper- as an intervention by Executive Authorities in the elections, which challenges the independence of the supreme committee and the judiciary.

 

In a statement to Ikhwanweb, Councilor Hassan al-Nagar, President of the Sharqiya Judges Club, stated that "This decision is a violation of the independence of the judiciary, as judges are responsible for their Supreme Council only, therefore it is not right for the Minister of justice to nominate judges even if it is according to the Supreme Council’s request, as he is a member of the executive authority".

 

Nasser Ameen, Director of the Arab Center for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, however, asserted that the Minister of Justice provided the judges names at the request of the Supreme Council, although he is not assigned to do so.

 

He stressed that the Council’s dependence on the Executive Authority challenges its independence and raises doubts as to the independence of the names selected by a minister in a government that will be running for election, since this initially challenges the independence of these names.

 

Ameen demanded the Supreme Council review its positions before making decisions which may not be in favor of fair elections or the protection of the judiciary's independence, or the judges' prestige.