Maat appreciates the Supreme Constitutional’s decision that Article 10 of the Protest Law is unconstitutional

The Foundation calls on the government and parliament to work towards adopting a law that conforms to Egypt's international obligations

And stresses: the imperative to open a community dialogue on the law of demonstrations

Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights appreciates the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court, which ruled that Article 10 of Law No. 10 is unconstitutional 107  For the year 2013 concerned with organizing the right to public meetings, processions and peaceful demonstrations, and the article stipulated that “the Minister of Interior or the competent security director may obtain - and before the date set for the start of the public meeting, procession or demonstration - serious information or evidence of the existence of what He threatens security and peace, to issue a reasoned decision preventing a public meeting, procession, or demonstration, delaying it, moving it to another place, or changing its course, provided that the notification submitters of that decision are notified at least twenty-four hours before the specified date.

This article gave the Ministry of the Interior the right to prevent or restrict the exercise of the constitutional right to demonstrate against dangers, which contradicts Article 73 of the Constitution, which stipulates that “Citizens have the right to organize public meetings, processions and demonstrations, and all forms of peaceful protests, without carrying weapons of any kind, by notification. As regulated by law. The right to a peaceful private meeting is guaranteed, without the need for prior notice, and security personnel may not attend, observe, or eavesdrop on it..“

The foundation believes that although the court did not ignore explicit constitutional provisions recognizing the right to peaceful protest. The unconstitutionality of any article in the Demonstration Law is evidence that the whole law is flawed, and the protest law must be re-examined for consideration before Parliament in order to correct the defective articles in it.. The Foundation believes that the current law includes some articles that are the spirit of constitutional legislation, especially Article 73 of the Constitution, and Egypt's obligations stemming from its ratification of human rights conventions and recommendations of the universal periodic review.

Maat Foundation calls on the government and parliament to work on approving a new law that organizes the right to demonstrate and peaceful assembly in accordance with international norms, charters and treaties that Egypt has ratified and the articles of the Egyptian constitution, and in accordance with the pledges that Egypt committed to during its submission to the universal periodic review mechanism in Geneva in March 2015, which it accepted: -

–         Amending the protest law to regulate the right to public meetings, processions and peaceful demonstrations in accordance with Article 73 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly

–         Review the law on associations and the law on demonstrations in order to comply with the constitution.

The Foundation also calls on Parliament and the government to work on proposing the law for community dialogue, in accordance with the directives of the President of the Republic, through which he was called to reconsider this law during the Sharm el-Sheikh Youth Conference.