The judicial authority draft law - currently being discussed by Egypt's Shura Council (upper house of the parliament) in preparation for its adaptation – has been heavily criticised by the legal profession, with head of the Judges' Club, Ahmed Zend, claiming that the draft law ‘is intended to drain the judiciary out of its symbols and to wipe out the state of law,’ reports AllAfrica.

Executive power

The Judges' Club had already sent a legal warning to the Council to prevent it from passing the draft law, which stated that ‘the legislative authority that is temporarily granted to the Shura Council, until the election of a House of Representatives (lower house of the parliament), should be limited to pressing legislations only.’
Mohahmed ElBaradei, Egypt's prominent opposition figure, claimed that the Shura Council is ‘trying to undermine Egypt's judiciary’, while former presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi posted on Twitter that the judiciary should be defended ‘against encroachment by executive power’.