Conclusions and Recommendations:

In conclusion, the existing Egyptian constitution is full of many legal guarantees that guarantee the freedom, safety and right of the accused during the preliminary investigation stage, including the new text on the right of the accused to remain silent, thus being the first Egyptian legislation stipulating this right. In addition, it included special guarantees regarding the sanctity of homes and the inviolability of searching them except with a reasoned judicial permission, prohibiting searching the accused, except in cases of flagrancy and urgency, if strong and sufficient evidence to the accusation against him/her exists. In case that the evidence is insufficient, the judicial police officer may not search the accused. The constitution also approved a set of constitutional guarantees for the accused in case of arrest, interrogation and remand, the guarantees that was regulated by the Criminal Procedure Law in the previously explained way. However, the expansion of the exceptional powers granted to the Public Prosecution during its investigations into some crimes- including terrorism crimes- has detracted from the legal remand guarantees of those accused of these crimes. It became the authority of the Public Prosecution to detain in remand those accused with it for a period that exceeds five months so that the one-time does not exceed fifteen days, and then the matter is brought after that before the competent court. The Criminal Procedure Law also detracted from the guarantees of the right to defense during the investigation phase, as previously Explained.

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Legal guarantees for the accused in the stage of Investigation.pdf

The Egyptian government issued the Anti-Terrorism Law 94/2015, claiming the law is meant to deal with the exceptional circumstances Egypt had undergone at that period. The law sought to identify terrorist crimes and regulate the procedures of detaining and trying suspects. It also contained a number of provisions on infringing on basic rights stipulated in the Egyptian constitution and international charters.

Five years after the law was issued, the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession has published a legal paper titled “Cluster Acts: Five Years on the Anti-Terrorism Law”.

The paper focuses on the repercussions of the regulations stipulated by the law in light of the international standards related to legislation issued in exceptional circumstances. The paper tackles the direct effect of the law on constraining basic rights and freedoms, and the impact the law has left on other laws. The Anti-Terrorism Law founded a new legislative philosophy, which resulted in issuing legal articles bearing the same provisions in other legislation. The paper closes with conclusions of the most significant points and a number of recommendations necessary to halt the repercussions of applying the Anti-Terrorism Law.

To view the full paper, please open the link

A legal paper Clustered Legislations Five Years on the Anti-Terrorism Law.pdf