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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Lawyers out in the cold
By Mona El-NahhasBy virtue of a decision handed down recently by the Cairo Court of Appeals, the registration of about 40,000 lawyers with the Bar Association was declared null and void. These lawyers joined the Association during the past three years, during which the syndicate was run by court-appointed custodians.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the custodians are authorised only to run the Association's finances, but have no legal right to take charge of professional matters. The court also ruled that custodianship does not mean a dissolution of the syndicate's elected council, which should continue to perform its administrative tasks.
Legal experts believe that the court's decision has serious consequences. Atef El-Banna, a Cairo University law professor, said, "Now, we have 40,000 lawyers who will have to pay for the custodians' irresponsible acts. They will not be able to start a career until the Bar Association crisis is resolved."
Explaining the complicated situation at the syndicate, El-Banna added, "First of all, the custodianship committee was appointed by a court order to take charge of the Bar Association's finances. And yet, it exceeded its limits and played the role of the syndicate's council. During the past three years, the custodianship committee took over administrative tasks. They gave themselves the right to register lawyers with the Association, appoint and dismiss employees and shut down the syndicate's headquarters."
El-Banna said the ruling of the Court of Appeals was not the first to define the responsibilities of the custodians. "In June 1998, the Administrative Court abolished a decision by the custodians to dismiss six employees on the grounds that the custodians have no legal right to do so, since their only responsibility is to take care of the syndicate's funds."
Further, El-Banna argued, the custodians have violated the law regulating the Association's activities, which stipulates clearly that the process of registering lawyers is the responsibility of the syndicate's chairman, or his deputy, and should be done in the presence of four members of the elected council. "As to taking the oath -- a requirement for registering lawyers with the Association -- it should be done before a special committee formed by the syndicate's council," El-Banna said.
Merghani Khairi, a professor of law at Ain Shams University, explained another consequence of the decision of the Court of Appeals. "The lawyers whose membership was declared null and void have no right to initiate lawsuits or attend court sessions on behalf of their clients. Consequently, all the lawsuits they won during the past three years can be easily contested. Courts, already crammed with lawsuits, are expected to get an enormous number of appeals, contesting the rulings in those cases," he said.
Khairi felt sorry for those clients who, after celebrating victory, now face the spectre of defeat. "What is the fault of those clients, who have nothing to do with the current struggle between lawyers and custodians?" he wondered.
Khairi said the only solution rests with the dissolved council, which should come forward, even if its legal term has ended, and take over its responsibilities. He argued that the council has every right to do so, because its members had been kept away from the Association against their will. "However, the council should do this for a short period only, until new elections are held," he said. As for the 40,000 lawyers who were disqualified, the council should approve their registration, after making sure that they meet all the necessary conditions.
According to prominent lawyer Mohamed Asfour, the 40,000 lawyers should be denied participation in any future elections, because their disqualification means that their votes are null and void. "If they took part, the election results would be contested, and the Bar Association would enter another labyrinth," Asfour said.
