Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Ahmed Mekky
Ahmed Mekky, pictured last year, resigned over proposewd changes to Egypt's judiciary. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Ahmed Mekky, pictured last year, resigned over proposewd changes to Egypt's judiciary. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

Egypt's justice minister resigns in row over judiciary independence

This article is more than 10 years old
Ahmed Mekky quits after saying Muslim Brotherhood regime trying to meddle in appointment and work of top judges

Egypt's justice minister has resigned in protest at what he sees as undue interference in the judicial process by the country's Islamist-led government.

Previously considered an Islamist sympathiser, Ahmed Mekky's resignation came just a day after supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood engaged in violent protests in favour of "purifying" the judiciary.

It also precedes a week in which parliament is expected to debate a law that critics fear will give the government too much power over the hiring and firing of top judges.

The judiciary is one of several bones of major contention in contemporary Egypt. Supporters of the government say it is still mainly staffed by judges loyal to the old Mubarak regime.

For example, President Mohamed Morsi's divisive decision to grant himself temporary authoritarian powers last November was needed – his supporters said – to ward off their malevolent interventions.

By contrast, opposition politicians and activists argue that Islamists are themselves interfering too much in the courts.

The new attorney general, appointed in controversial circumstances last December, is seen by the opposition as a Brotherhood patsy.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Artistic revolution follows 2011 uprising in Egypt

  • Hosni Mubarak retrial collapses as judge steps aside in opening statement

  • IMF keen to splash the cash in Egypt

  • Egypt's government must work for its people

Most viewed

Most viewed