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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Stalled at the Bar
By Mona El-Nahhas
Since the Court of Appeal ruling on 13 July ending the three-year sequestration imposed on the Bar Association, no steps have been taken towards its implementation. Lawyers accuse the government of resorting to delaying tactics to postpone the implementation of the court ruling for as long as possible.
The Court of Appeal suggested the formation of an interim judicial committee to take charge of the syndicate's affairs and begin making preparations for council elections. Under the ruling, the committee should include the four longest-serving members of the association. There have been rumours that the government was planning to manipulate the identification of the those four members so as to guarantee the loyalty of the interim committee.
"If this happened, we would contest the formation of the committee as illegal and take our case to the Administrative Court," said Islamist lawyer Fatema Rabie, who brought the case to end the sequestration to the Court of Appeal after originally having had her case thrown out by a lower court.
Rabie alleges that Minister of Justice Farouk Seif El-Nasr is responsible for the delay in implementing the ruling. "It seems that the minister does not want the elections to take place. That's why he refuses to take any positive step towards the formation of the judicial committee, which will take over the syndicate," Rabie said.
Asked if lawyers intend to take any kind of action to end the current stalemate, Rabie said that a group of lawyers were considering seizing the syndicate headquarters especially as they now have a court ruling on their side. "Yet, I think there is no need for such a step, as it would be better to avoid any confrontation now with security forces", she said.
Ahmed Nasser, a candidate for the post of syndicate chairman, said that lawyers were holding daily meetings with different political parties as well as lobbying high-ranking officials to get the ruling implemented as soon as possible. However, Nasser believes that the government will not take steps to implement the ruling before the presidential referendum. "Under a reasonable pretext, the government has to wait until the court has heard the request submitted by Ahmed Reda Ghatwari, one of the custodians in charge of the general syndicate's affairs, in which he asks for a halt to the implementation of the Appeal Court ruling," Nasser said.
The Court of Urgent Affairs will hear Ghatwari's request on 21 August. "Until this date, custodians will have control of the syndicate's administrative and financial affairs. By such authority, they will go on dispensing the syndicate's money as they like without any control," said Sameh Ashour, another candidate for the chairmanship of the syndicate. Ashour warns of the deteriorating situation at the Bar Association but says that lawyers have no alternative but to wait and see since the solution lies in the hands of the government.
Last Monday, heads of the custodianship committees in charge of 12 branch syndicates issued a statement calling on one of the custodians (Ghatwari) of the main syndicate in Cairo to withdraw his appeal to stop the implementation of the Appeal Court ruling.
