Sisi returns criminal procedures bill to Parliament in rare reversal

In a rare reversal, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi returned a draft law on criminal investigation and trial process to the House of Representatives on Sunday after criticism that pursued the bill from its drafting through to parliamentary approval.

Egypt researcher at Amnesty International, Mahmoud Shalaby, told Mada Masr that the move is “a logical step in light of widespread local and international demands to reconsider the law.” 

Opposition groups, non-governmental organizations and United Nations experts have all spoken out against the legislation, arguing that it would enshrine existing violations of the rights of suspects and defendants. 

Sisi received several calls to reconsider some of the draft law’s articles due to issues of “governance, clarity and practicality,” according to a statement published by the presidential spokesperson, which added that the House must work to provide more guarantees of defendant rights.

Several articles of the bill must be reviewed to strengthen the guarantees of protecting the sanctity of homes during arrests and of the rights of defendants before investigative and judicial authorities, the spokesperson said, as well as provide more alternatives to remand detention to limit its use. 

Sisi also instructed removing any ambiguous wording from the draft that could lead to multiple interpretations or issues with application of the law and allowing the relevant ministries and agencies enough time to study and implement procedures that are newly introduced in the bill.

Human rights lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer welcomed the move in comments to Mada Masr, noting that the statement cites some of the concerns raised by civil society. 

On the other hand, while validating certain concerns, the presidential statement praised the House’s efforts with regards to other aspects of the bill, including the procedures for enforcing travel bans and waiting lists on defendants, compensation for remand detention in specific cases and decreasing its duration, conducting investigations, detention renewals and trials remotely, along with witness protection measures and international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and other “substantive” amendments to the current version of the law.

Passing the law would “have exacerbated the problems of the criminal justice system in the country, which is already riddled with problems and contradictions with Egypt's international obligations,” Shalaby said. 

The wording echoes concerns raised by critics inside and outside Egypt who said that the new law would fail to challenge entrenched issues in Egypt’s criminal justice system. 

The widespread use of remand detention by authorities as a measure of first resort was chief among their concerns. The law contained nothing to limit the use of remand detention, nor the prolongation of detention beyond legally agreed terms, Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told Mada Masr after the draft was first made public. 

The Arab Center for Independence of Judiciary and Legal Profession also called out detention limits introduced in the draft, saying in a statement last year that the law would prove pointless as long as the anti-terrorism law remains in place, acting as a loophole for judicial authorities to override limits on remand detention.

United Nations experts later joined the chorus of critics, noting that the bill failed to introduce safeguards against the use of remand detention to punish critics, dissidents and opponents — despite repeated commitments by Egyptian authorities to address the issue.

Other issues included articles that jeopardized the digital privacy of suspects and left space for surveillance.

The new law was proposed at the end of 2023, and moved rapidly through the House as many expected it would, with only minor amendments introduced before members voted to give final approval to the bill in April. 

It was later sent to the president for ratification. It is rare for the presidency to return a law to the House following its parliamentary approval, though Sisi previously returned draft legislation on clinical trials in 2018. 

Opposition groups from political parties to unions including the Lawyers Syndicate and Journalists Syndicate were quick to decry the process behind the law’s formulation and the sidelining of efforts at political participation. 

“For Sunday’s step to be meaningful,” Shalaby cautioned, “it must be accompanied by a genuine, effective and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders in an environment that allows for the expression of objections and suggestions regarding the law without repercussions.”

Baqer, who participated in National Dialogue sessions to suggest amendments to the previous version of the law, also called for comprehensive change to the draft.

"The philosophy of the law itself should change,” said Baqer, “not just the details referred to in the statement."