The Supreme Constitutional Court needs at least 60 days to consider the constitutionality of the Shura Council’s amended elections law, court sources said Thursday.
The news comes a day after an administrative court referred the law to the SCC once again in a move that will likely delay upcoming House of Representatives elections for several months.
Sources who requested anonymity told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the verdict would not be issued soon, even if the court rejects all challenges to the elections law. They added it will take at least 45 days for the SCC to hold a special session where it will consider the law’s provisions and constitutionality, due to court procedures.
Once the court receives a case, the court Record Registry department formally reviews the documents to ensure the case can be registered.
Each case stays with the Record Registry for 45 days, according to law, so the body has time to notify parties involved. The stakeholders are required to use that time to prepare their defense and write legal memorandums.
Afterward, the case is referred to the court Commissioners Committee, which prepares a report on the legal opinion. This process could take more than two months, meaning that the parliamentary elections — scheduled for 22 April — will likely be delayed considerably.
The court had previously presented recommendations on the elections law to the Shura Council, the upper house of Parliament which now holds legislative powers. The council adopted those changes prior to elections being scheduled, but did not allow the SCC to review said amendments prior to passing the law.
The sources added that the court would likely consider hastening its review of the case given Egypt’s ongoing political and social instability as well as its struggling economy. But they said the legal procedures applied to each case are the same and cannot be ignored.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
