Judges are furious after the cabinet headed by Dr. Nazeef approved in its urgent meeting Wednesday the new judiciary bill as a prelude to referring it to the parliament for endorsement. The judges described the bill as humiliating to the judiciary authority.
In an exclusive statement to Ikhwanweb, Chairman of Alexandria Judges Club chief justice Mahmoud el Khodairy said in part “The government bill ignored the demands of the Judges Club to the effect that most members of the Supreme Judiciary Council be chosen through election ".

Al Wafd opposition newspaper reported that the bill ignored the Judges’ Club demands to rescind the affiliation of the judicial inspection to the Ministry of Justice. The New bill coined a new text stipulating the approval of the Supreme Judiciary Council for assuming the position of assistant minister of Justice and positions affiliated to it, especially undersecretary and board members.

The bill didn’t mention the Judges Club as an entity, nor did it refer to it in any of its items.

Khodairy affirmed that the general assembly of Egypt’s judges will convene on June 23, 2006 to discuss these latest developments. A press conference will be held next Monday to announce the Judges reservations on the bill. On whether there will be activities launched by the Club to face the government bill, Khodairy said this is dependent on the steps to be decided by general assembly. It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian arena is witnessing a heated showdown between the judges and the Egyptian government on the background of the judges demands to attain the independence of the judicial authority, an issue which resulted in the detention of over 600 persons in the pro judges demonstrations