Cairo (AFP)

President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi's increased hold on Egyptian justice is raising fears in the profession, as the country's judicial system is already under fire by human rights organizations.

"The guarantees of independence of the judge reside in the fact that he is removed from the executive power," claims an AFP magistrate, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject in a closely controlled country by the security device.

This principle "is incompatible with the intrusion of the President of the Republic in the changes, promotions, assignments or disciplinary sanctions", he adds.

In July, the head of state appointed the presidents of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and the Authority of Administrative Prosecutions.

For the first time, the principle of seniority, which traditionally led the chief executive to systematically appoint the most experienced judges, was not retained.

Accused by NGOs of serious violations of human rights, President Sissi in this case applied the amendments of the constitutional revision voted in April to almost 89%, without a real public debate and in the absence of dissonant voices in the media .

The reform also allowed the former Marshal, who holds the reins of the country since 2013 and the removal by the army of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, to extend his current term of four to six years and to represent a third. times in 2024.

- "To undermine independence" -

According to the professional questioned by AFP, the constitutional amendments may harm the honest judges and benefit, conversely, other judges who "aspire to obtain positions and privileges" through their relations with the executive.

Amnesty International has warned that these constitutional amendments "will undermine the independence of the judiciary and enhance impunity for human rights violations".

According to the NGO, the high courts have been able "to play a role in challenging the legality of certain laws restricting rights and freedoms in Egypt". They "ordered new trials in a number of cases" against "dissidents".

Since 2013, the Egyptian justice system has been regularly criticized by NGOs as well as the United Nations, who denounce mass trials of dissidents, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the vertiginous increase in death sentences and the excessive use of provisional detention.

A law of 2017 already gave the Head of State formal jurisdiction to appoint the heads of the high courts, but on the basis of a selection made by the Council of Magistrates in principle independent.

- Laws become "realities" -

Since the reform, the Constitution allows Mr. Sissi to directly appoint the person of his choice among the candidates, without being bound by the principle of seniority. The key position of Attorney General is also involved.

The judges' club, close to the regime, denounced criticism from the UN and NGOs for "unacceptable interference in the work of the independent Egyptian judiciary".

But in Egypt, too, the reform has been sharply criticized.

The power of appointment of the president "was purely formal and it became a real decision," regrets another magistrate interviewed by AFP, again on condition of anonymity.

The well-known lawyer Gamal Eid also believes that the constitutional revision accentuates the lead screed of the executive on the judiciary, "weakening the position of the judges" and "further increasing the erosion of its independence".

For this famous human rights defender, political pressure is already reflected in "the long periods of pre-trial detention, the placement of hundreds of people on terrorist lists and the many death sentences".

The pro-reform MPs justified it in the name of stability, taking up the systematic line of defense of Mr Sissi's regime against criticism from NGOs or the UN.

"The amendments have gone with their good and bad sides," said MP Mohamed Fouad. "These laws have become realities," he says.

© 2019 AFP