Egypt’s Morsi Vows To Respect Judicial Independence: Presidency

A presidential statement released Monday night described a meeting between President Mohamed Morsi and members of Egypt’s judiciary – including Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) head Ahmed Metwally – as “positive.”

According to the statement, judges in attendance had voiced their belief that Morsi would be able to resolve their concerns regarding recent statements deemed offensive to the judiciary.

The president in turn, the statement read, had assured judges that he would not accept any infringements on the judiciary or its members, stressing that he would abide by the constitution and law in all his decisions.

The president also welcomed an SJC proposal to hold a “conference for justice,” during which all matters concerning judicial independence would be discussed.

The meeting came days after thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrated outside the High Court in Cairo on Friday to demand the “purge” of the judiciary from Mubarak-era elements.

On Sunday, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki formally announced his resignation to protest Brotherhood allegations of judicial corruption.

Commenting on a newly proposed Judicial Authority Law, the president stressed that he trusted state institutions to perform their responsibilities without interference by other branches of government.

Egypt’s Shura Council (the upper house of parliament, currently endowed with legislative authority) is planning to discuss the proposed Judicial Authority Law – initially tabled by the moderate-Islamist Wasat Party – which would lower the retirement age for judges, leading to the forced retirement of over 3,000 judicial officials.

The move comes after MPs from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Wasat Party accused large numbers of judicial officials of corruption and of taking part in a “counter-revolution” against Egypt’s elected president.

Ahram