The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms launches the “Fair Trial Guide.”
As part of a series of legal studies on the criminal justice system,
October 23, 2024
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) is launching the “Fair Trial Guide,” which addresses rights before and after trial.
This guide is part of a series of legal studies released by the ECRF on the criminal justice system and legislative reform in Egypt.
The “Fair Trial Guide” comprises 28 chapters and highlights various issues related to trials, including filing lawsuits, appealing judgments, or requesting retrials. It also refers to international conventions and their stance on fair trials and the principles they establish.
The guide sheds light on the right to equality in trials under laws and international conventions, as well as defining remote trials and the nature of electronic litigation.
It is worth noting that the ECRF has previously published numerous reports addressing legislative reform and criminal justice, including “Prisoner Rights in the Law on Reform and Rehabilitation Centers,” considering it another attempt to safeguard the dignity of detainees, protect them from torture and enforced disappearance, and ensure fair trials for all citizens.
The campaign to publish these legal studies comes at a time when society’s need for comprehensive legislative reform has reached its peak, especially amidst the escalation of human rights violations such as torture and other forms of inhuman and degrading treatment, enforced disappearances, medical neglect of detainees, deaths in custody, unfair trials, prolonged pretrial detention, and the suppression of any form of opposition.
Therefore, it has become necessary to analyze the roots of these violations and address the legislative reform agenda comprehensively. This aims to enhance the participation of civil society in Egypt in pushing for the legislative and institutional reforms needed to guarantee the protection of all citizens from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, as part of an overarching plan to reform the criminal justice system in its entirety.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms has identified several objectives through its work on the legislative reform file in Egypt. Chief among these objectives is the development of a program to reform the criminal justice system by proposing the necessary legal amendments and changes to the institutional framework governing both the police and the judiciary. This aims to prevent torture and other grave human rights violations.
