The Supreme Judicial Council issued a statement on Monday saying that it is examining the implications of President Mohamed Morsy's decision to reinstate the People's Assembly.
The People's Assembly was dissolved on 14 June by a Supreme Constitutional Court verdict that struck down part of the parliamentary elections law. Following the verdict, the ruling military council issued a decree to disband Parliament.
Morsy issued a presidential decree on Sunday ordering that the assembly be reinstated.
The SJC said it will make a decision on Morsy's decree after completely reviewing the issue, state-run news agency MENA reported.
Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said that 17 challenges to Morsy's decree have been filed before the State Council Administrative Court, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported, including one by former Socialist Popular Alliance Party MP Abul Ezz al-Hariry.
"A president's decree may not be appealed because it is a political rule. The administrative court is supposed to decline these appeals for lack of jurisdiction on the grounds that the president's decree is not administrative and may not be challenged in court," Abdel Maqsoud told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Privately-owned Al-Watan newspaper reported that one lawyer, Mohamed Hamed Salem, was challenging Morsy's decree on the basis that it violates the Constitutional Declaration and the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court.
Salem argued that the decision was illegitimate and an abuse of power. The lawsuit claims that the presidential decree did not respect Article 25 of the Constitutional Declaration, which stipulates that the president should respect the law and the constitution.
