Thirty-seven lawyers in Tunisia filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffal, because of what the coordinator of the Commission for the Defense of the Independence of the Judiciary, Ayachi Hammami, described as a crime of not implementing the rulings of the Administrative Court, which ruled to suspend the implementation of the decision to dismiss a number of judges.
Al-Hammami called, during a press conference in front of the Tunis Court of First Instance in the capital Tunis, the Public Prosecution and judges to expedite taking all judicial measures in this regard.
Regarding the nature of the complaints, Al-Hamami stated that "the complaint relies on Chapter (Article) 315 of the Penal Code and Chapter Two of the Corruption Reporting Law, which says that failure to implement judicial rulings by those responsible is a form of corruption."
Al-Hammami added, "We accuse the Minister of Justice of corruption by obstructing the rulings of the Administrative Court in favor of these judges.
Until 12:00 GMT, the minister did not comment on the complaints filed against her, but the authorities declare on more than one occasion that they respect the independence of the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the dean of Tunisian lawyers, Hatem Meziou, said that the Bar Association strongly rejects harm to the legal profession, whether from the military judiciary or from any party.
In a speech after military court rulings were issued against lawyers and former MPs, Saif al-Din Makhlouf and Mahdi Zaqrouba, Meziou stressed that the lawyers' permanent position is the rejection of military trials for civilians, and the rejection of infringement of rights and freedoms.
The origin of the issue
The file of dismissed judges in Tunisia dates back to the middle of last year. On June 1, President Kais Saied issued a decree dismissing 57 judges, accusing them of corruption, collusion, and covering up suspects in terrorism cases.
The next day, human rights organizations and Tunisian bodies considered the decision contrary to the principle of separation of powers, and a dangerous trend towards dictatorship, while Washington considered it a worrying step and undermining democracy in Tunisia.
On June 6, judges announced a general strike in all Tunisian courts for a week, subject to renewal, in protest against the decision to remove the judges.
And on August 10, the Administrative Court ruled to stop the implementation of the decision to dismiss 49 of the 57 judges whom Saeed decided to dismiss.
On the 20th of the same month, the Ministry of Justice said that the prosecution had referred to the judiciary files related to "financial and economic crimes, and others of a terrorist nature" against the dismissed judges.
Two months later, it was announced that a defense committee would be formed to defend the dismissed judges, consisting of lawyers and human rights activists.
On January 10, the coordinator of the defense of the dismissed judges was investigated on charges of using communication systems to spread false news.
Tunisia has been suffering since July 25, 2021, an acute political crisis when Saied began imposing exceptional measures, including the dismissal of the government and the appointment of another, the dissolution of the Judicial Council and Parliament, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, the adoption of a new constitution through a referendum on July 25, and the early parliamentary elections to the 17th. December 2022.