Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has referred the Criminal Procedure Law bill back to the House of Representatives on Sunday for further examination of objections raised concerning several of its articles.
The draft of the Criminal Procedure law was received from the House of Representatives on August 26, with a request for its promulgation.
Numerous appeals have since been submitted to the Presidency, urging reconsideration of certain provisions within the draft.
The objected-to articles relate to considerations of governance, clarity, and practicality, which require their re-examination to achieve further guarantees for the sanctity of a person’s home and the rights of the accused before investigation and trial authorities.
This also includes increasing alternatives to pre-trial detention to limit its use, removing any ambiguity in the wording that could lead to multiple interpretations or problems during practical application, allowing adequate time for the relevant ministries and authorities to implement the new mechanisms in the draft law and become familiar with its provisions.
This will ensure their application with precision and ease, leading to swift justice within the constitution and the law.
The president also pointed to the efforts of the House of Representatives in approving the draft criminal procedure law and the new regulations it introduced for the first time.
These include:
- Procedures for preventing defendants from traveling and placing them on arrival watch-lists
- Procedures for financial compensation for pretrial detention in specific cases and reducing its duration
- Procedures for investigation, renewal of detention, and remote trial through the use of information technology, witness protection procedures
- Procedures for international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as well as the fundamental amendments that the House of Representatives introduced to a number of other articles of the current criminal procedure law.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
