Honouring a pioneer
The late Fathi Naguib, chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, was commemorated by a coalition of 12 Egyptian non-governmental organisations last week. Amira El-Noshokaty reports
Lawyer Mona Zulficar spoke extensively about the legacy of Fathi Naguib, the pioneering judge who passed away earlier this year. The venue was the Cairo Opera House's Small Hall, where a ceremony organised by a coalition of 12 Egyptian NGOs in the fields of women and human rights, commemorated Naguib's work in the judicial, social and diplomatic spheres. "We promise to continue the journey and to pass on the message," said Zulficar, who heads the Women's Health Improvement Association, one of the NGOs organising the event.
The National Organisation for Human Rights and Human Development, the Egyptian Council for Women's Rights, and the Coptic Evangelic Organisation for Civil Services were among the other NGOs participating. The room was packed with prominent judicial and governmental figures like Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr, Tourism Minister Mamdouh El-Beltagui, Giza Governor Mahmoud Abul-Leil, as well as dozens of Naguib's friends, colleagues, and students.
Naguib, who served as head of both the Court of Cassation and the Supreme Judicial Council before being appointed, by presidential decree, head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, was a hero to many in the NGO community. Zulficar called him a "role model" who should be honoured for "all the values that he represented and held dear". Naguib was a frequent supporter of progressive social reform as well as NGOs defending human and women's rights.
"Today we are celebrating one of the knights of enlightenment," said Hussein El-Badrawi, deputy chairperson of the Court of Cassation and the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council. Zulficar told Al-Ahram Weekly that Naguib -- who was posthumously awarded the Sash of the Nile, Egypt's most prestigious award, by President Hosni Mubarak a few months ago -- was a successor to great Egyptian thinkers like Saad Zagloul, Qasim Amin, and Abdel-Aziz Fahmi.
Credited with catalysing the overall modernisation of Egyptian legislation over the past two decades, Naguib was also among those who played a major role in Tahani El-Gebali's becoming the country's first woman judge. El- Gebali said Naguib saw women as part of the larger national picture of the causes he adopted as a way of helping the country move forward.
He was involved, for instance, in the formulation of the landmark Personal Status Procedural Law that was passed in January 2000. Commonly known as khul', the law provides women with the opportunity to initiate divorce proceedings. According to Zulficar, Naguib managed to "create a more vivid frame for social and cultural reform" via laws such as khul', as well as those that updated the marriage contract, and introduced concepts such as family insurance and alimony funds. Naguib had even hoped to one day formulate a unified family law for Egyptians, regardless of their religion.
Not only did Naguib play a prominent role in the Taba National Committee, which negotiated the return of that Egyptian town on the Gulf of Aqaba from Israel, he headed Egyptian delegations that signed more than 30 international judicial treaties.
One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement that an annual award in Naguib's name will be bestowed upon a leading Egyptian human and women's rights defender. The annual prize-winner will be chosen by the NGO coalition in an attempt to encourage public figures and intellectuals to follow Naguib's example by participating in such essential national issues.
