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Egypt: A nation's constitution is a true reflexion of its political system as well as historical gains, system of values; in a nutshell it tells how far civilized is the nation. The first constitution of individual and public conscience arose in Egypt As Egypt had nurtured and promoted the oldest civilization ever known to humnity, its history has a long list of unprecedented accomplishments: Egypt was the first to know hand writing, farming, mining, construction and geogolical mapping; the first to lay down relationship between ruler and subjects as well as among members of the public. Ancient Egyptians were the first to promote a constitution of individual and public conscience; the first to advocate social justice and monotheism. It can be certainly said that the ancient Egyptians were the first to establish grounds for constitutions and laws, from which other civilizations derived and built on in creating urban and civilized states. In modern history, Egypt had the earliest and most deep-rooted constitutional experiment in the Arab and Middle East region. The following discussion illustrates the major milestones of this experiment. The High Council The reign of Mohammad Ali Pasha is generally a cknowledged as the starting-point of Egypt's awakening in modern times. In November 27,1824, Mohammad Ali Pasha, in anunprecedented gesture, issued a decree establishing the High Council, method of its deliberationas and other rules including among others the following: - The government shall not exclusively decide on matters related to Egypt's interests, without consulting the council, - All council members shall be given full opportunity to express their opinions freely without flattery or favouritism, - Council members my, in probing any interest, enlist the services of executives concerned and experts and - The council shall convene regularly, and may be convened in an extraordinary session, to deliberate any serious or emergency issues. The statutes of the High council set three sources for issues to be deliberated in relation to Egypt's interests and concerns: - First: Any sound point of view expressed by Egypt's ruler in relation to any important interest. - Second: Statements made by the Wali (governor) of Egypt, ministers or senior state officials, relating to the administration or settlement of any issue, implying any benefit to be realized or any injury to be averted. Third: Problems facing senior officials relating to their jurisdiction, for which they request the council's advice. Principle of relevance in the political law (Siyasatnamah) This law enacted in July 1837, mainly enshrined the principle of the relevance of law to the conditions of the state. In this connection, the law maintained that "each kingdom in Europe has its own code of law that fits in with the nature, manners and levels of education of the people, whereby their interests and concerns are adminidtered accordingly. It is thus impossible to copy in letter and spirit laws of a certain Kingdom into another different Kingdom. Although governments may vary from "conditional to "authoritarian" republics, they are the same in terms of basic principles. It is these far-reaching principles that guarantee the proper administration of affairs, facilitate the fulfilment of interests and gain many benefits. Advisory Counci of Representatives This council was established by a decrito issued by Khedive Ismail on October 22,1866, underscoring the importance and benefits of advisory councils in civilized kingdoms and the need to elect members from citizens, (in what came to the first enshrinement of the rule of electing members of representative councils). Statutes of the council contained 18 articles showing requirements for elected members and the elocorate (Sheikhs appointed by popular wish) who represent their constituencies in electing members of the council. The council's by-laws, issued on February 7,1882, gave members immunities against arrest, even in cases of criminal acts or felonies committed thereby, unless so authorized by the council as well as the right to independence and freedom of expression. Egyptian legal Statute Issued on May 1,1883, this law established the following structures: - Provincial countries, one for every province (governorate), - Advisory Council of Law, - General Assembly and - Government Advisory Council. An advanced concept contained in this statute was that no law or order involving public regulations shall not be issued unless submitted to the council for opinion. Should the government disapprove the council's opinion, the former shall advise the latter of reasons for disapproval. The council was composed of 20 members divided into two categories, permanent and delegated. The former conists of 14, including the speaker and one seputy-speaker, and the letter 16, including the other deputy-speaker. Interpellation of ministers In 1912, Khedive Abbass issued a law authorizing members of the Advisory Council of Laws to interpellate ministers, but it also gave ministers the right not to answer any interpellation should any deem it so required for the best interest. Legislative Assembly On July 2,1913, Khedive Abbas Hilmi issued a law amending the Legal Statute, merging the Advisory Council of Laws and the General Assembly into one body:the legislative Assembly. The new law, was aimed to give Egypt a system of government that corresponds with enlightened ideas and guarantee good administration, maintenance of personal freedom, urban expansion and progress and particularly fits in with Egypt. According to the law, the number of elected members was increased to 66, the assembly was mandated to accept, as submitted, amend or disapprove any draft law, giving reasons. The Assembly had to be consulted for any public loan. However, Sultan Hussein Kamal of Egypt decreed on October 27,1915 the meeting of the Assembly be adjourned and the articles requiring partial re-election of the Assembly or provincial councils be suspended. Independence of Egypt Independence of Egypt was declared under Royal decree No.18 of 1922 by King Fuad who also took up for himself the title of king of Egypt. Since then, Egypt became an independent sovereign state. The 1923 Constitution The first Egyptian document in modern history to be explicity named as such, the 1923 Constitution was endorsed by King Fuad. It stipulated that its purpuse was "to seek means to bring about welfare, progress and all amenities enjoyed by free civilized nations. The only way to achieve this goal is to have a constitutional system as advanced as the latest in the world. The constitution contained 170 articles defining system of government, rights and obligations of citizens, the executive legislative and judiciary authorities, modus operandi of both chambers of the parliaments.The constitution contained many significant rules, including among others the following: - Egyptians are equal before the law; they shall have equal civil and political rights and obligations as well public freedoms, without distinction on account of origin, language or religion. - Egyptians shall be exclusively entrusted with public positions, civilian or military while, foreigners shall be barred from such positions except in such exceptional cases as may be decided by law. - Personal freedom is guaranteed. No one may be arrested or imprisoned except under the provisions of law. No Egyptian may be deported from Egyptian territory. Residence and property are inviolable. - Freedom of faith shall be absolute. The state shall protect free practice of religious rites and beliefs according to applicable norms in the Egyptian territory, providing this shall not prejudice public order or conflict with public morals. - Freedom of opinion is guaranteed, either through open statement, writing, painting or otherwise within the limits of the law. - The press shall be free within the limits of the law and censorship on the press shall be banned. - Education shall be free unless it violates public order or morals. Elementary education shall be mandatory for Egyptians, boy and girls and it still be free in public schools. - Egyptians shall have the right to form associations. The law shall show how to use such right. - Judges shall be independant and shall be governed exclusively by the law in excercising their mandate. No authority in the government may interfere in lawsuits. - The constitution shall be amended by a resolution to be passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives under the absolute majority of members of both chambers combined. On July 18, 1928, however, both chambers were dissolved and certain provision of the constitution were suspended. These were related to the non-permissibility of suspending any of the provisions of the constitution, method of amending it and the banning of censoring, warning, suspending or illegalizing the press through administrative procedures. Later these provision were reactivated. The 1930 Constitution On October 22,1930, King Fuad issued a decree establishing a new constitution for Egypt. However this constitution that contained 156 provisions did not last long. On December 12, the king issued a decree reinstating the 1923 Constitution in response to the nation's wish. The July 1952 Revolution A new era of constitutional life By all standards the July 23,1952 revolution, which is indeed a significant point of departure in Egypt's modern history. Among its initial steps were the annulment of the 1923 Constitution and the dissolution of political parties. This was justified by the fact that the constitution had turned into a donation to be granted, withdrawn or suspended by the ruler whenever he wished. It also turned from a means to tune up relationships among with authorities into an area for wrangling and overbidding. In an intial gesture underscoring the Revolution's recognition of the significance of the constitution, Mohammad Nagiub as the commander-in-chief of the Armed forces and leader of the Revolution issued a constitutional declaration in 1953. The 1956 Constitution The first post-Revolution constitution, issued under the leadership of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, contained 196 provisions. It stipulated that Egypt is a republican, democratic Arab state, the Egyptian people is an integral part of the Arab nation, Islam is the religion of the state and Arab is its official language. This constitution particularly gave a significant status to women who make up one half of the society. It stipulated that protection of motherhood and childhood shall be ensured by the State. The state shall further enable woman to reconcile her duty in the society with her family obligations. However the most important contribution by the 1956 constitution in the interest of woman was access to political rights including candidature and voting. It specifically stipulated that voting is an equal right for all Egyptians and public participation is a national obligation to all men and women without distinction. Current constitution Egypt's current constitution was promulgated on September 11, 1971 and amendments of articles 1 and 3 were agreed through public referendum on May 22, 1980. The constitution contains 203 articles covering state system and basic constituents of the society including social, moral and economic components, public freedoms, rights and obligations, rule of law, system of government and relations between executive, legislative and judiciary authorities. According to jurists, the first five articles constitute the basic principles of the Egyptian constitutional system. ArticleI stipulates that the Arab Republic of Egypt is a state with a socialist democratic system underpinned by the alliance of working people. The Egyptian people is an integral part of the Arab nation and shall seek to realize its overall unity. According to Article 2, Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic its official language and principles of Sharia(Islamic law) the main source of legislation. According to Article 3, the people shall have exclusive dominance and they shall be the source of authority. Article 4 stipulates that ARE is economically based on the socialist democratic system that rests an efficiency and justice, precludes explortation, leads to dissolving income gaps, protects legitimate gains and equitable sharing of public burdens and assignments. Lastly, Article 5 stipulates that the political system of ARE is based on pluralism within the basic constituents and principles of the society as stated in the Constitution. It is worthnoting that according to the Constitution the Supreme Constitutional Court shall exclussively exercise judicial control of the constitunality of laws and regulations and shall interpret legislative texts. Glimpses of constitutional life in Egypt's history show clearly that Egypt was the first of the region's nations to formulate and recognize the significance of the constitution. |
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