Expert witnesses

Reports that experts at the Ministry of Justice had ended their sit-in prove premature, says Mona El-Nahhas

---

Click to view caption

Experts vow to continue their protest until their demands are fully met

Four weeks have passed since experts working for the Justice Ministry first staged a sit-in in front of the Ministry's headquarters. They are demanding that a decree issued by the minister of justice's former assistant last June regulating their working practices be revoked.

On Tuesday, as negotiations with ministry officials were ongoing, the protesters were surprised by a statement issued by the ministry saying that the strike had ended after a compromise. "The sit- in is continuing," Mohamed Tahoon, one of the disgruntled experts, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Later on Tuesday protesters were heard chanting "welcome welcome Ramadan, the month of fasting and sit-ins" as they strung up Ramadan lanterns and raised a huge portrait of President Hosni Mubarak. They have urged Mubarak to intervene to end their dispute.

Tahoon denies that the Ministry of Justice has made any offers to the demonstrators. "We have received nothing apart from promises that do not even begin to address our demands," says Tahoon.

Tuesday's negotiations came a week after representatives of the experts met with Judge Boulos Hanna, the assistant minister for administrative development.

"The meeting failed to achieve anything. The ministry reiterated its position and refused to annul the decree," says protesting expert Akram El-Deeb.

Since the decree was issued in June telegrams have been sent to President Hosni Mubarak and a lawsuit filed before the Administrative Court petitioning for the decree to be annulled. A partial work stoppage was organised two weeks ago at experts' offices in the provinces.

The Lawyers against Corruption group has voiced support for the experts' demands and says it intends to sue Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei on the grounds that the decree has delayed the settlement of many cases.

"The month long sit-in staged by experts has hindered the hearing of 40,000 cases," the group said in a statement.

The decree which stirred experts' anger bans the forwarding of files relating to cases being heard in court to experts' offices for technical advice and instead obliges experts to examine any relevant files in the court. The only exception to the rule would be at the discretion of the panel hearing the lawsuit.

Experts say the decree will hinder them from doing their work properly. "It will impact badly on experts' production rates and lead to a cut in their salaries," says Tahoon.

Engineering, accountancy and agriculture account for the majority of cases with which Justice Ministry experts deal.

Ministry officials say the changes are necessary after several recent cases in which important documents were lost and will also help speed up litigation procedures.

Annulling the decree is not the only demand made by the experts.

They have been calling for the royal decree 96/ 1952 regulating their work to be amended since at least 1990, claiming it was no longer relevant to their job descriptions or capable of ensuring they receive adequate renumeration. Several attempts to endorse a draft law prepared in 1998 have floundered after it failed to win enough support among experts.

Their current demands include increased incentives that are not linked to productivity, and the extension of judicial community to cover experts.

Ministry officials say a new draft law is now being prepared and is expected to be submitted to the People's Assembly during the parliamentary session starting in November. They point out that the demand for judicial immunity is beyond the ministry's mandate and would require a constitutional amendment before it can be granted.