• Home
  • >
  • >
  • The Administrative Court refers appeal against the decision to form a specialized committee to nominate university, faculties, and institutions’ heads to the first circuit

The Administrative Court refers appeal against the decision to form a specialized committee to nominate university, faculties, and institutions’ heads to the first circuit

Publish Date : Thursday, 15 April, 2021
Last Update : Thursday, 25 November, 2021
Facebook
Twitter

24 November 2021 

Today, The Administrative Court (Circuit 17) decided to refer lawsuit filed by AFTE against the President, the President of Supreme Council of Universities, the Minister of Higher Education, and the President of Cairo University, in their capacity, challenge decision No. 2185 of 2014 regarding the formation of a committee to nominate university presidents and deans of colleges and institutes, organize their work, procedures, and conditions for candidacy and the subsequent decisions and the consequences thereof, to the first circuit of The Administrative Court.

The lawsuit came under No. 81283 of 68, on behalf of Dr. Abdul-galil Mustafa, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Al-Qasr Al-Ainy, Dr. Hani Al-Husseini, a faculty staff member at Cairo University, and Dr. Khaled Samir, an assistant professor at Ain Shams University.

The events are due to a decision issued by the President of the Republic under law No. 52 of 2014 amending certain provisions of the University Organization Act. Under the decision, the President is entitled to appoint presidents of universities and deans of colleges and institutes based on the nominations of a specialized committee. The decision referred the formation of this committee to a decision to be issued by the Minister of Higher Education, The Minister of Higher Education issued decision No. 2185 of 2014, which determined the committee’s framework, jurisdiction, the terms and qualifications for candidature, and selections of the candidates for the positions of university presidents and deans of colleges and institutes. Therefore the appealed decision lacked many legal and professional aspects; It also strengthened the state’s interference in the selection process of university leaders, which undermines Egyptian universities’ independence and academic freedoms.

The lawsuit is based on the text of Articles (21) of the Egyptian Constitution, which states, “The state guarantees the independence of universities, scientific and linguistic academies,” and article (9), which states “The state ensures equal opportunity for all citizens without discrimination” which contradicts the appealed decision that gives the power to discriminate against certain people in accessing leadership positions in universities according to the whims of the administrative authorities; Thus AFTE’s lawyers argued that the appeal decision is unconstitutionality before the Administrative Court and the State Commissioners Authority.

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression calls for halting the appealed decision in preparation for its annulation, canceling the lawsuit, and referring it to the Supreme Constitutional Court to rule the unconstitutionality of the decision of Act No. 52 of 2014 referred to above is unconstitutional.

22 June 2021

The 15th Circuit of the State Council decided to postpone the appeal submitted by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (ِAFTE) to the July 3, 2021 session, to be examined by the State Commissioners’ body to reply and follow-up, in the lawsuit bearing number 81283 of 68 dated March 23, 2014, which was commissioned by:

Professor Dr. Abdul-Jalil Mustafa, Dr. Hany Al-Husseini, and Dr. Khaled Samir.

AFTE demanded to pause the implementation of order No. 2185 of 2014 – in preparation for its cancellation – regarding the formation of a committee to nominate university presidents and deans of colleges and institutes, organize their work, procedures, and conditions for candidacy and the subsequent decisions and the consequences thereof.

Notably, that a session was set to consider the lawsuit in November of 2014, and the court decided to refer the appeal to the State Commissioners Authority, and another session that was set on March 14, 2016, and AFTE attended and requested to correct the form of the lawsuit to include the new order No. 5241 of 2016 amending the contested decision and arguing that the decision is unconstitutional.

The report of the Commissioners Authority was issued in May 2018, that the State Commissioners Authority had decided to cancel the contested decision, then the lawsuit returned to deliberation to view and respond to what was stated in the report of the State Commissioners’ Commission, and during the hearing of 3 July 2020 the plaintiffs requested a declaration of unconstitutionality, and the court complied and postponed the appeal to the August 8, 2020 hearing, to notify the litigants of the requests, and the hearing was postponed on October 3, 2020, so the appellants submitted evidence proving the declaration until the court decided to refer the appeal again to the State Commissioners Authority to prepare the case in the part related to pleading unconstitutional.

It is noteworthy that, the 13th circuit has been changed and since October 3, 2020, and the 15th circuit has become the competent authority to hear the lawsuit, as the contested decision contradicts the most important principles established by the Egyptian constitution in the text of Article (21) that:

“The state guarantees the independence of universities and scientific and linguistic universities, the provision of university education in accordance with international quality standards, and it works to develop university education and guarantees free education in the state’s universities and institutes, in accordance with the law. The state commits to allocating a percentage of government spending for university education that is not less than 2% of the gross national product. It gradually rises in order to be in line with global averages. The state works to encourage the establishment of private non-profit universities, and the state is committed to ensuring the quality of education in private and private universities and its commitment to international quality standards, preparing its cadres of faculty members and researchers, and allocating a sufficient percentage of its revenues to develop the educational process. And research ”.

It is clear from the text of the article that the constitutional legislator wanted to stipulate the independence of universities and then the number of the most important rules that must be applied in relation to higher education, scientific research, and private universities. The truth of the matter is that independence here in its clear meaning is the independence of decision and management in a way that achieves the public good and the basic goal for which it was established Universities and the contested decision in our advocacy consecrates and codifies the idea of the domination of the administrative body and the executive authority over university life, so how can independence come if the administrative body controls all aspects of university life, including financial and administrative, in order to choose the administrative leaderships in Egyptian universities.

– The appellant decision also goes against what Article (9) of the Constitution stipulates:

“The state is committed to achieving equal opportunities for all citizens, without discrimination.”

It is difficult to achieve any equal opportunities in light of appointment decisions that do not contain any criteria, which opens the door to choices based on the private whims or favoritism of a particular person or to the satisfaction of the administrative body for some people but not others, and it may sometimes take the idea of punishment, thus depriving those who deserve access to One of the leading positions at the university.

15 April 2021

the 15th circuit of the State Council decided to postpone the appeal submitted by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (ِAFTE) to the June 12, 2021 meeting, in order to examine the state commissioners’ body to respond and comment, in the case bearing number 81283 of 68 C dated March 23, 2014, which was commissioned by:
Professor Dr. Abdul-Jalil Mustafa, Dr. Hany Al-Husseini, and Dr. Khaled Samir.
AFTE demanded to pause the implementation of Resolution No. 2185 of 2014 – in preparation for its cancellation – regarding the formation of a committee to nominate university presidents and deans of colleges and institutes, organize their work, procedures, and conditions for candidacy and the subsequent decisions and the consequences thereof.

Notably, that a session was set to hear the case in November of 2014, and the court decided to refer the appeal to the State Commissioner, and another session was set on March 14, 2016, and AFTE attended and requested to correct the form of the case to include the new decision No. 5241 of 2016 amending the contested decision and arguing that the decision is unconstitutional.

The report of the Commissioners Authority was issued in May 2018 that the State Commissioners Authority had decided to cancel the contested decision, then the lawsuit returned to deliberation to view and respond to what was stated in the report of the State Commissioners Commission, and during the hearing of 3 July 2020 the plaintiffs requested a declaration of unconstitutionality, and the court complied and postponed the appeal to the August 8, 2020 hearing, to notify the litigants of the requests, and the hearing was postponed on October 3, 2020, so the appellants submitted evidence proving the declaration until the court decided to refer the appeal again to the State Commissioners Authority to prepare the case in the part related to pleading unconstitutional.

It is noteworthy that, the thirteenth circuit has been changed and since the October 3 session 2020, the fifteenth circuit has become the competent authority to hear the case, as the contested decision contradicts the most important principles established by the Egyptian constitution in the text of Article (21) that:

“The state guarantees the independence of universities and scientific and linguistic universities, the provision of university education in accordance with international quality standards, and it works to develop university education and guarantees free education in the state’s universities and institutes, in accordance with the law. The state commits to allocating a percentage of government spending for university education that is not less than 2% of the gross national product. It gradually rises in order to be in line with global averages. The state works to encourage the establishment of private non-profit universities, and the state is committed to ensuring the quality of education in private and private universities and its commitment to international quality standards, preparing its cadres of faculty members and researchers, and allocating a sufficient percentage of its revenues to develop the educational process. And research ”.

It is clear from the text of the article that the constitutional legislator wanted to stipulate the independence of universities and then the number of the most important rules that must be applied in relation to higher education, scientific research, and private universities. The truth of the matter is that independence here in its clear meaning is the independence of decision and management in a way that achieves the public good and the basic goal for which it was established Universities and the contested decision in our advocacy consecrates and codifies the idea of the domination of the administrative body and the executive authority over university life, so how can independence come if the administrative body controls all aspects of university life, including financial and administrative, in order to choose the administrative leaderships in Egyptian universities.

– The appellant decision also goes against what Article (9) of the Constitution stipulates:
“The state is committed to achieving equal opportunities for all citizens, without discrimination.”
It is difficult to achieve any equal opportunities in light of appointment decisions that do not contain any criteria, which opens the door to choices based on the private whims or favoritism of a particular person or to the satisfaction of the administrative body for some people but not others, and it may sometimes take the idea of punishment, thus depriving those who deserve access to One of the leading positions at the university.

To subscribe to AFTE’s monthly newsletter

leave your email address below