Egypt’s highest court declares legislature illegal

The Supreme Constitutional Court said that the Shura Council (upper house), the only one currently sitting, must be dissolved when parliament’s lower chamber is elected.

June 02, 2013 03:50 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 04:16 am IST - CAIRO

In this June 1, 2013 photo, Egyptian men pass by the Shura Council, the upper house of the country’s legislature.

In this June 1, 2013 photo, Egyptian men pass by the Shura Council, the upper house of the country’s legislature.

An Egyptian court ruled on Sunday that the nation’s legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected.

The ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court also said that the legislature’s upper house, the only one currently sitting, must be dissolved when parliament’s lower chamber is elected later this year or early in 2014.

The same court ruled to dissolve parliament’s lower chamber in June, a move that led to the promotion of the toothless upper chamber, the Shura Council, to becoming a lawmaking house.

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling on the 100-member constitutional panel would cancel the charter it drafted. The constitution was adopted in a nationwide vote in December 2012.

But even if it does not, the ruling will question the legitimacy of the disputed charter pushed through by allies of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.