The Egyptian State Council's Judges Club announced it would not supervise the upcoming parliamentary elections in objection to the new Judicial Authority Law, which was approved by the Parliament on Wednesday. The Club called for an emergency general assembly for the State Council on Wednesday evening, expressing "confidence in the wisdom of the President to [prioritze] constituional legitimacy and protect the independence of the Judicial Authority". "We were surprised by the House of Representatives' approval of the Judicial Authority bill despite being unconstitutional and being rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council and the Judges Club," the statement added. In a phone-in to a 10 pm program on Dream Channel, Samir al-Bahy, chairman of the State Council Judges Club, asserted that the goal of passing these amendments to how the heads of judicial bodies are selected is to dismiss Judge Yehia al-Dakrouy as head of the State Council on July 1. Bahy added that the Red Sea islands case is the reason behind the insistence on amending the Judicial Authority Law.

Source: Egypt Independent April 27, 2017 10:41 UTC