Tremors at the Bar

By Fatemah Farag

"According to the law, all decisions must be taken with the unanimous agreement of all three custodians, but this stipulation is no longer possible," said Nabil El-Hilali, a human rights lawyer and Syndicate activist. "And consequently, all the actions undertaken today are illegal."

However, Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, argued, "Decisions were never taken unanimously to start with. Mubadda used to take unilateral action all the time. That is why the custodians were constantly taking each other to police stations."

Three weeks ago, about 30 lawyers staged a protest march from the lawyers' room on the first floor of the Southern Giza courthouse to the top floor. Their destination was the office of Judge Mahfouz Shouman, president of the judicial committee assigned by the government to oversee the custodianship of the Bar. Their request was simple and yet not so simple. They asked Shouman to expedite the organisation of Bar elections.

"We want to make it possible for lawyers to exercise their rights, but obviously this will not take place until public opinion reflecting this sentiment has larger scope and influence," said El-Hilali who participated in the march.

Shouman had formally asked the custodians on 17 April to prepare lists of voters, a necessary prerequisite if Bar elections are to be held. His request was in line with a decision taken in December 1996 by an Administrative Court which ordered the preparation of voters' lists by the responsible parties. Although Shouman's action was interpreted by some lawyers as a signal that elections would take place before the end of the year, others remained sceptical.

"We wish for elections. However, Shouman keeps on telling us that he has sent repeated orders to the custodians to prepare the lists in accordance with the court's decision and that the delay is their fault," Moukhtar Nouh, an Islamist lawyer, told the Weekly. "But according to Law 100 which regulates the activities of syndicates and its 1994 amendment, the head of the judicial committee has full powers when it comes to the organisation of elections. So I do not think this is a plausible excuse."

Amin strongly believes that there will be no elections before the end of the year. "The time for such a political decision is not ripe yet," he said, adding that "manoeuvres are taking place under the table."

Amin said there has been an increase in the activities of prospective candidates. "Political preparations for the elections are under way but the administrative preparations are lagging behind," he said.

Prospective candidates for the post of chairman include the Association's current custodians, Hassan El-Mahdi and Ahmed Reda El-Ghawatly.

Another possible candidate is Mohamed Asfour, a prominent lawyer who was elected by an extraordinary general assembly on 15 May 1997 as head of a so-called Temporary Committee. Although the legality of the assembly and the Committee is disputed, the Committee has initiated legal action before the Southern Giza Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, demanding that a date be set for elections.

The Islamists have announced that they prefer to support a government candidate. Nouh denied reports that Abdel-Halim Mandour, a prominent Islamist lawyer, is a candidate. "We do not have our own candidate," he said. "If there is a competent candidate, we would prefer him to be pro-government. We need an open communication channel."

This is one reason elections will not take place now, according to Amin "The Muslim Brotherhood always supports the government's candidate for the position of chairman because they know they will never get it," he said. "What they are after is a majority of council seats."

Amin said the government does not want this to happen. "It would prefer a coalition of political forces to share power in the council," he said. "This is not possible right now because other political forces are scattered."

In the meantime, the two custodians and/or lawyers with vested interest are expected to take legal action to bring about the appointment of a third custodian to replace Mubadda. "Just more patchwork," quipped El-Hilali.