12:38 p.m
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Books – Mahmoud Al-Shorbaji:
The Bar Council decided to suspend work and attendance before criminal courts and Public Prosecution investigations throughout the Republic, as of Thursday morning, January 19, for an indefinite period; Due to the crisis of Matrouh lawyers.
The Syndicate Council also decided to call an emergency and joint meeting of the General Syndicate Council with the sub-captains on Friday, January 20.
On Wednesday morning, the Matrouh Criminal Court ruled that 6 of Matrouh’s lawyers be imprisoned with hard labor and two years of probation, in the case known in the media as the Matrouh lawyer and the staff of the Matrouh court.
Some questioned the repercussions of the decision to suspend work and appear before felonies and prosecution investigations, and the possibility of some lawyers not implementing the decision.
Lawyer Jumaa Al-Malwani says that the decision of the Bar Association means that no lawyer will appear in any case before the criminal courts, and therefore investigations related to felonies will be invalidated for violating the text of Article 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He added to “Masrawy” that suspending the presence of lawyers will also invalidate any convictions issued by criminal courts because the lawyers did not appear to plead and present their defenses in criminal cases before the criminal courts. This is in violation of the provisions of the Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Law on Advocacy, and the general instructions of the Public Prosecution Office.
For his part, Mohamed Salem, the lawyer, confirmed that the decision of the syndicate has become binding on all lawyers nationwide, as the decision obligated the subsidiary unions to follow up on the decision and implement it.
He pointed out that the lawyer’s violation of the union’s decision to suspend his work and appear before the criminal courts will subject him to discipline, explaining that the decision will in turn lead to prolonging the consideration of cases in which lawyers will not attend.
The defense of the accused lawyers had submitted an appeal against the verdict, and it was decided to set a misdemeanor appeal session, next Sunday, January 22; to consider the appeal.
In its statement, the Bar Association stated that regarding the Matrouh lawyer’s crisis, it was keen, from the first moments of its notification of the incident, to communicate with all concerned parties to the crisis in order to deal with it wisely and objectively, according to a comprehensive investigation of the incident, including the collection of anecdotal and technical evidence, especially the unloading of surveillance cameras.