Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt
Encyclopedia
The Supreme Constitutional Court (or SCC) is an independent judiciary body in the Arab Republic of Egypt
, with its new seat in the Cairo
suburb of Maadi
.
The Court is the highest judicial power in Egypt
and it alone undertakes the judicial control in respect of the constitutionality of the laws and regulations and shall undertake the interpretation of the legislative texts in the manner prescribed by law. In addition the supreme court is empowered to settle competence disputes between the judicial and the administrative courts.
The SCC can, in all cases, judge on the unconstitutionality of any provision in a law or a regulation being presented to it when assuming its competences and connected to the dispute presented before it.
The chief judge of the Supreme Court was the head of the Presidential Election Commission that supervised and ran the country's first multi-candidate presidential elections in 2005.
. It includes counseling halls, a multi purpose hall for 450 people, offices, a library, a museum, and a large atrium that rises up to 18 meters and is covered by a dome.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, with its new seat in the Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
suburb of Maadi
Maadi
Maadi is a wealthy suburb south of Cairo, Egypt. The town is home to the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Cairo American College , Lycée Français du Caire , Misr American College , Maadi British International School , the Cairo Rugby Club, and the national Egyptian Geological Museum.-...
.
The Court is the highest judicial power in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and it alone undertakes the judicial control in respect of the constitutionality of the laws and regulations and shall undertake the interpretation of the legislative texts in the manner prescribed by law. In addition the supreme court is empowered to settle competence disputes between the judicial and the administrative courts.
History
The establishment of the Supreme Constitutional Court goes back to the argument which was raised over the right of courts or any judicial bodies to pronounce on the constitutionality of the laws issued by the Legislative power. Such a judicial argument has been advocated in arguing that considering the issue of the constitutionality of laws is included in the competence of the courts. Therefore, it does not prejudice in any way the principle of separation of powers. The argument of such a party was, however, based on a basic assertion that discussing this issue is but a sheer legal act as the core and crux of this matter is represented in interpreting the laws which were appealed against as unconstitutional, a matter of a legal nature in the first place. Indeed, the Egyptian legislator adopted this approach when the court was established in 1969 and was then called the Supreme Court entrusted to censoring the laws' constitutionality. The aforementioned court was existent till its replacement with the SCC in 1979.Structure
The establishment of the Court has been stipulated in the body of the Egyptian Constitution in 1971. Articles from 174 to 178 talked about this court, its competences and its staff. And, according to Article 174, the Court is an independent judicial authority whose headquarters is in Cairo. The SCC is alone responsible for censoring the constitutionality of the laws and regulations and it assumes interpreting legislative texts. By virtue of constitutional provisions, the law No. 48/1979, known as that of the Supreme Court, has been issued. Article No. 25 of this law has specified the competences of this court as follows:- To censor the constitutionality of the laws and regulations.
- To decide on the disputes over the competent authority among the judicial bodies or authorities of judicial competence.
- To decide on the disputes that might take place as to carrying out two final contradictory rulings where one of the aforementioned rulings has been issued by one of the judicial body and the other by another body of judicial competence.
- And by virtue of the provision of Article No. 26 of the aforementioned law, the SCC alone has the power to interpret the laws issued by the Legislative Authority and the decrees issued by the Head of the State in case of any divergence as regards their implementation.
The SCC can, in all cases, judge on the unconstitutionality of any provision in a law or a regulation being presented to it when assuming its competences and connected to the dispute presented before it.
The chief judge of the Supreme Court was the head of the Presidential Election Commission that supervised and ran the country's first multi-candidate presidential elections in 2005.
Building
The Court's new building was designed by Ahmed Mito, a young Egyptian architect. It is one of the most famous examples of Egyptian Revival architectureEgyptian Revival architecture
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile during 1798....
. It includes counseling halls, a multi purpose hall for 450 people, offices, a library, a museum, and a large atrium that rises up to 18 meters and is covered by a dome.
See also
- ConstitutionConstitutionA constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
- ConstitutionalismConstitutionalismConstitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
- Constitutional economicsConstitutional economicsConstitutional economics is a research program in economics and constitutionalism that has been described as extending beyond the definition of 'the economic analysis of constitutional law' in explaining the choice "of alternative sets of legal-institutional-constitutional rules that constrain the...
- JurisprudenceJurisprudenceJurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
- JudiciaryJudiciaryThe judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
- Rule of lawRule of lawThe rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
- Rule According to Higher LawRule according to higher lawThe rule according to a higher law means that no written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice...
External links
- Official website
- Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt State Information Service
- Tamir Moustafa, The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. Book length study of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court
- Photos of SCC building, 2008
- Egypt: Roadmap to the presidency, Gamal Essam El-Din, Al-Ahram WeeklyAl-Ahram WeeklyAl-Ahram Weekly is an Egyptian English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt.It was established in 1991 by the Al-Ahram newspaper, which also runs a French-language weekly version, Al-Ahram Hebdo....
, July 25, 2009, about Farouk Sultan's appointment - Egypt's New Chief Justice, Clark Lombardi, Comparative Constitutions, September 30, 2009