The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP), in cooperation with the Arab Coalition for the International Criminal Court, held a seminar on the margins of the Assembly of States Parties convened in The Hague from December 1–6, 2025, entitled “The current position of Arab states regarding the International Criminal Court.” The seminar was attended by numerous representatives of International Criminal Court (ICC) member states, international and regional organizations, and members of the Secretariat of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Nasser Amin, Director of the ACIJLP, reviewed the evolution of Arab states’ positions from the 1998 Rome Conference to the present day. He noted that the Arab stance has undergone significant shifts over almost 27 years, ranging from outright rejection and caution toward the very concept of the ICC to a limited rate of ratification of the Rome Statute, with only 13 Arab states having done so. This was followed by a further development marked by the ratification of the Statute by five Arab states (Jordan, Djibouti, Comoros, Tunisia, and Palestine), and subsequently by growing support from several countries in the region for the Court’s work and commendation of its recent decisions. However, no substantial progress has been made toward additional accessions to the Court.

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Cairo, December 4, 2025

The Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) is participating in the 24th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, scheduled to be held in The Hague from 1 to 6 December.

The session will examine the challenges facing the International Criminal Court recently, with the participation of delegations from member and non-member states, civil society organizations, and regional and international institutions.

The agenda of the session includes extensive discussions and deliberations on the Court’s activity reports, the activities of the Office, and the report of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims. The session will also address the organization of the Court’s work, the election of members of the Budget and Finance Committee, and the election of a new member of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims.

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Cairo, December 1, 2025

The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) followed with deep concern and dismay the decision of the House of Representatives, during a single session held on 16 October, to approve the amendments introduced by the government to the draft Criminal Procedures Law, in response to the observations contained in the presidential memorandum regarding eight articles of the said draft. The approval was granted without any notable modification, as the government’s proposals were endorsed in their entirety, despite the clear unconstitutionality of certain provisions added by the government. Even more troubling is the claim that the Constitution does not explicitly address the concept of procedural necessity, or, in other words, that it is “constitutionally deficient.”

The ACIJLP considers that the approval by the House of Representatives of the amended text of Article 48 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which authorizes public authorities to enter homes and inhabited premises “in cases of distress, imminent danger, fire, drowning, or similar circumstances,” constitutes a grave concern. The addition of the phrase “or similar circumstances” leaves the door wide open for law enforcement officers to enter private homes without a judicial warrant supported by cause, in violation of Article 58 of the Constitution and the sanctity of private dwellings.

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Cairo: October 17, 2025

The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) is following with growing concern the repercussions of the decision by the Presidency of the Republic to return the draft Criminal Procedures Law to the House of Representatives, and the inclination of the relevant parliamentary committees discussing and drafting the amendments towards imposing further restrictions and undermining the safeguards granted to defendants upon arrest, investigation, interrogation, or detention, in a manner that permits the interrogation of defendants in the absence of their lawyer.

While reaffirming its position calling for a comprehensive review of the underlying philosophy of the law and the formation of a specialized, independent committee to undertake such a review, the ACIJLP notes that the published amendments to Article 105 of the draft Criminal Procedures Law—which grant the Public Prosecution the right to interrogate defendants without the presence of their lawyer in cases of “fear of loss of time”—constitute a violation of the guarantees enshrined in Article 54 of the Constitution, as well as Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which stipulate that no defendant shall be interrogated except in the presence of their lawyer.

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Cairo: October 6, 2025

Cairo: October 2, 2025

The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) reaffirms the continuation of its campaign opposing the draft Criminal Procedures Law and asserts its firm position on the necessity of reconsidering the draft in its entirety, given that it undermines numerous constitutional rights and safeguards and disturbs the necessary balance between individual rights and the public interest.

Despite the withholding of the final version of the draft approved by the House of Representatives from public scrutiny, and the non-publication of the original memorandum of objections submitted by the Presidency—of which only the substance was reported on some press websites—the ACIJLP, in continuation of its campaign launched in 2019 rejecting the draft Criminal Procedures Law, records its rejection and objection to the Presidency’s observations on three articles, as these entail a diminution of the guarantees and rights of defendants and of the rights of the defense, as follows:

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The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP) and the Arab Coalition for the International Criminal Court express their deep concern and grave dismay over credible reports indicating that the United States is planning to expand the scope of the sanctions it has imposed against the International Criminal Court (ICC). These sanctions initially targeted the Prosecutor of the Court, Deputy Prosecutors, judges, Palestinian non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.

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