Obituary:

An honourable man

Fathi Naguib (1938-2003)

Fathi Naguib

The judicial system has lost one of its most dedicated and loyal servants with the death this week of Fathi Naguib owing to a heart attack. At a massive funeral -- attended by President Hosni Mubarak -- family, friends and judiciary figures said good-bye to the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Born in 1938 in Cairo, Naguib was the son of Mohamed Naguib, a sub-editor at Al-Ahram. In 1958, he received his bachelors degree in law from Cairo University, which he followed with a PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris.

Following his university studies, Naguib moved steadily upwards through the ranks of the judiciary before becoming head of the Court of Cassation and head of the Supreme Judicial Council on 17 July 2001. In September of the same year, a presidential decree was issued declaring him head of the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Among Naguib's major services to the nation was his participation on the Taba National Committee in 1985, which negotiated the return from Israel of the Egyptian town on the Gulf of Aqaba. His diplomatic legal style enabled him to prepare many of the reports and legal agreements that were needed to support the committee.

According to Khaled Mohamed El-Qadi, member of the legislation council of the Ministry of Justice, Naguib's father was a decisive influence on his son. A voracious reader, Naguib explored a wide range of topics in books, magazines and newspapers which he would then discuss at length with his father. Through those discussions he came to see the value of objectivity. Among the writers who influenced Naguib's way of thinking were Khaled Mohamed Khaled, Ahmed Amin, Taha Hussein, Abbas El-Aqqad, Tawfiq El- Hakim, Naguib Mahfouz and Mohamed Hussein Heikal.

Naguib's support for women's rights was well known. Tahani El- Gebali, Egypt's first female judge, said she "would never be mistaken if I said that he is Qassem Amin of this era", referring to a Egyptian proponent of female emancipation active at the turn of the 20th century.

Naguib argued time and again that equal rights for women were guaranteed under the Egyptian constitution. He suggested that it was perhaps a cultural, rather than a legislative issue.

In addition to defending women in general, Naguib played a key role in formulating the Personal Status Procedural Law passed in January 2000. When asked what he thought of the new khul' system Naguib had told Al-Ahram Weekly that he "argued that the Egyptian family was far too strong to be threatened by merely granting women their legitimate right to end the marriage just like men. That right could only strengthen family ties and prevent the many problems resulting from the fact that women could remain captive to an inhuman situation."

Naguib had hoped that one day he might formulate a unified law for the Egyptian family. "One law for all Egyptians: Muslims and Christians alike," he had said.

By Reem Nafie