Constitution of Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Egypt |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries • Politics Portal |
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the supreme law of Egypt. It was adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980 and 2005. It was proclaimed to update the democratic representative system in assertion of the rule of law, independence of Judiciary, and party plurality.
Contents |
[edit] History
Main article: History of the Egyptian Constitution
Egypt is known for beginning the earliest administrative and legislative codes in history.
In 1971, when President Anwar Sadat took office, he moved to the adoption of a new democratic constitution that would allow more freedoms, a return of a more sound parliamentary life and correct democratic practice.
This Constitution was the fourth adopted constitution since the declaration of the republic and is named "The Permanent Egyptian Constitution". Since its ratification, it was amended twice, once in 1980 by President Sadat in the end of his presidency and another in 2005, when President Hosni Mubarak asked the parliament to amend "Article 76" of the constitution that provisioned the manner in which the president of Egypt is elected.
Today, various political powers in Egypt have asked for yet more reforms in hopes of a more complete constitution that would shape a better Egyptian political life, whether through more comprehensive amendments or through the adoption of a new constitution.
[edit] Overview
The Constitutional Proclamation of the constitution declares the main principles of the Egyptian Political system which are: Peace through Freedom, Arab Unity, National Development and Freedom.
The constitution establishes Egypt as a "Socialist Democratic State", deriving its sovereignty from the people. and part of the Arab World. It proclaims the system of government as a multi-party Semi-presidential system within the framework of the basic principles and components of the Egyptian society. The Constitution upholds the concept of separation of powers; hence balances the powers of the three main authorities (Executive, Parliament, and the Judiciary). Within this scheme, the Parliament monitors the actions of Executive Authority through many mechanisms and instruments, and in order to fulfill such monitoring role, members of the People’s Assembly enjoy parliamentary immunity.
The Constitution also sets out methods for its own amendment by the request of either the People's Assembly or the President's. Both of which have to be subjected to a public referendum, after being voted for by at least two-thirds of the Assembly.
[edit] Freedom
An entire chapter of the constitutional document is dedicated to defining the basic rights and freedoms to its citizens that is to be provided by the state.
The Constitution upholds that "Individual freedom is a natural right" and regards all citizens as equals. It guarantees a set of freedoms including: The "right to protect the private life of citizens"(Article 45), "Freedom of belief and the freedom of practising religious rights" (Article 46), "Freedom of expression" (Article 47), Freedom of Press and other publications (Article 48), Freedom of peaceful and unarmed private assembly, without the need for prior notice (Article 54), Universal suffrage, as well as the right to form civil societies (Article 55).
However, the practice of such freedoms is usually hindered by the Emergency laws that have been in effect for the past 2 decades.
[edit] Secular Vs. Islamist
The tradition of Egyptian constitutions have been secular in nature since the first modern constitution was founded in 1923. However, a amendment that differs from this tradition was passed in 1980. According to the 1980 amendment of the Constitution, Islamic Law (Sharia) became the principal source of legislative rules. Such wording simply implies that any new law that is being enacted or considered for enactment should not be in contravention of any prevailing principles of Islamic Law (Sharia).
It is worth noting that laws regulating personal status issues (Marriage, Divorce, Inheritance,..etc) are derived from Islamic norms, penal law rules as codified in the Penal Code are entirely western non-religious oriented rules, whether they were ratified before or after the 1980 amendment.
Egypt has also enacted a number of new statutes to respond to contemporary standards of global economic and business reform including: Investment Law, Anti-Money Laundering Law, Intellectual Property Rights Law, Competition Law, Consumer Protection Law, Electronic Signatures Law, Banking Law, Taxation Law,... etc.[1]
With the apparent growing popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood after the 2005 parliamentary elections, the debate arose again discussing whether the state is secular or religious. The legitimacy of a religious political party is also in debate among intellectuals and politicians.
[edit] Future Amendments
After the amendment of Article 76 in 2005, and its perceived draconian restrictions imposed on both partisean and independent presidential candidates, It is expected for it to be reconsidered as announced by the People's Assembly's Speaker in November 2006.
More amendments are expected to be discussed for future adoption in 2007 to reflect a more democratic state, as promised by president Mubarak. Amendments are said to include limiting the powers of the president, more powers for the legislature, the stop of the use of emergency laws.
[edit] Past Constitutions
Throughout its long history, Egypt has had numerous past constitutions, passing over a long period of evolution from the Egyptian Liberalism experiment to the contemporary constitution.
- The Monarch
- The 1923 Constitution - (1923 - 1952)
- The 1930 Constitution - (1930 - 1935)
- As part of The UAR
- UAR Constitution - adopted on 10 February 1958 when the Egyptian-Syrian merger was given force.
- The Republic, following the overthrew of the Monarch.
- The 1956 Constitution - adopted on 22 July , 1957 Established as the first constitution since the declaration of the Republic.
- The 1963 Provisional Constitution - (1964 - 1971)
- The 1971 Constitution - adopted in 1971 by President Anwar Sadat, reflecting a better parliamentary and political system.
