Appealing against the right of the parliament candidate to chose the governorate in which s/he is running the elections

Type: Constitutional

Case no.: 16 constitutional judiciary year 37

Case Year: 2015

Adverse: Gamal Ali Zahran

Representation: Appellants

 

Verdict:

Verdict Date: 1-3-2015

Judges: President – Anwar Rashad Al Aassi

Members – Hanafi Ali Gebali  – Al Sayed Abdu Monem Hashish – Adel Omar Sherf – Mohamed Abdul Aziz al Shinnawi – Bolos Fahmi Eskandar – Mohamed Khairi Taha al Nagga

Court: Supreme Constitutional Court
Subject Lawsuit and no.: lawsuit no. 26992 judiciary year 69 in front of the administrative court  agaist the head of the supreme electoral committee requesting to suspend the execution and canceling the decision of the supreme electoral committee no. 1 year 2015 to invite voters to elect members of the parliament year 2015 saying that this decision is deformed as it is illegal and contrary to provisions of the constitution and during considering the suit the prosecutor claimed the non constitutionality of the articles 4, 6, 10 of the parliament law and the decision of law no. 202 year 2014 pointed to, as the court took this claim seriously it permitted the prosecutor to file a constitutional case so he did

The legal text appealed against:

Article 4 of the parliament law:

The Arab Republic of Egypt is divided to districts dedicated to individual system elections and 4 of the districts dedicated for the list system elections, two districts of them will have 15 seats allocated for each, and two districts of the others will have 45 seats allocated to each, the law determine the number, the scale and the components of each of them

Articlle no. 6 of the parliament law

To continue being a member of the parliament, the member should keep the quality for which s/he was elected, if he loses one quality or changes his/her party for which s/he was elected or becomes independent. Or becomes party independent, s/he loses his/her membership through a decision of the parliament with a majority reaches two thirds of the members

Article no. 10 of parliament law

A candidate submits his/her request to run the parliamentary elections in the specialized districts of the individual system through a written request submitted to the electoral committee in the governorate chosen by the candidate within the period determined by the supreme electoral committee as it shoud not be less than five days from announcing the start of submitting requests. The request should be accompanied by the following documents:

An announcement includes the curriculum vita specially his/her educational and career experience

criminal record

a statement shows wether s/he is and independent or a member of a party including the name of the party

Financial declaration for himself/herself + spouse + children if they are underage

educational certificate

Certificate of compulsory military service or a certificate of the exemption from doing it according to law

Other documents determined by the supreme electoral committee to prove the existence of the conditions required by law

the committee organize they way of publishing the data required to provide the right of knowledge

The provisions stated in the previous paragraphs are applied on the list candidates, but the representative of the list is going to take the procedures through a request submitted on an application prepared by the supreme electoral court accompanied by the documents determined by the committee to prove the representation of each candidate. With a deposit receipt of 6 thousands L.E. as a securing amount for the list which has 15 seates allocated and the amount increases three times for the list of 45 seats allocated

The submitted papers and documents will be considered official papers in executing the provisions of penal code

Article 2 of the decision of law no. 202 year 2014

Dividing the Arab Republic of Egypt into 237 electoral district allocated to individual system elections and four electoral districts allocated to the list system elections

Article no. 3 of the decision of law no. 202 year 2014

the scale and components of each electoral district and the no. of  seats allocated to it and to each governorate are determined according to the attached schedules taking in consideration the fair representation for population, governorates and the equal representation to the voters

The Constitutional text claimed to be violated:

Article no. 87 of Constitution 2014

The participation of citizens in public life is a national duty. Every citizen has the right to vote, run in elections, and express their opinion in referendums. The law shall regulate the exercise of these rights. Performance of these duties may be exempted in cases specified by the law.

The state shall enter the name of every citizen in the voter registration database without request from the citizen himself, once the citizen meets voting requirements. The state shall also purge this database periodically in accordance with the law. The state guarantees the safety, neutrality and fairness of referendum and election procedures. The use of public funds, government agencies, public facilities, places of worship, business sector establishments and non-governmental organizations and institutions for political purposes and electioneering is forbidden.

Article no. 102 of Constitution 2014

The House of Representatives is composed of no less than four hundred and fifty

members elected by direct, secret public balloting.

A candidate for the membership of the House must be an Egyptian citizen, enjoying

civil and political rights, a holder of at least a certificate of basic education, and no

younger than 25 years old on the day that candidacy registration is opened.

Other requirements of nomination, the electoral system, and the division of electoral

districts are defined by law, taking into account fair representation of population and

governorates and equal representation of voters. The majoritarian system,

proportional list, or a mixed system of any ratio may be used.

The President of the Republic may appoint a number of members that does not

exceed 5%. The method of their nomination is to be specified by law.

 

Appealed Against: The president of the Republic – Prime Minister – Head of the Supreme Electoral Committee

Verdict Text: The court ruled to reject the suit and confiscate the bail and obliged the prosecutor to pay the expenses and an amount of 200 L.E. as attorney fees