The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) deplores the Egyptian Parliament’s adoption, on 16 October 2025, of a new Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) that violates the right to a fair trial and freedom from arbitrary detention, including by perpetuating impunity for enforced disappearances.
“The Egyptian Parliament has squandered the opportunity to ensure that the Criminal Procedure Code complies with Egypt’s Constitutional and international human rights law obligations”, said Saïd Benarbia, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme Director. “While the return of the draft CPC bill to the Parliament could have signaled acknowledgement of its serious flaws, the legislature refused to address core human rights concerns and, instead, adopted a final text that further empowered abusive law enforcement officials, and provided totally inadequate safeguards against arbitrary detention and for defence rights.”
On 29 April 2025, the Egyptian Parliament adopted a draft of the CPC despite widespread condemnation of its contents, including by UN Special Procedures mandate-holders, members of Parliament, and domestic and international non-governmental organizations. The draft text adopted perpetuated impunity for abuses by security officials, including enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, by exclusively authorizing public prosecutors to decide whether to initiate investigations against public officials, and by denying victims and their families the ability to challenge public prosecutors’ refusals to investigate serious allegations of abuses. The draft CPC that Parliament had adopted at the end of April also failed to curb prosecutors’ powers to arbitrarily extend detainees’ pre-trial detention without judicial oversight under articles 202 and 206 bis. In addition, articles 525 to 532 of the draft CPC codified the use of remote prosecutorial and court hearings, thus hindering judges’ review of the legality and conditions of detention, and of detainees’ well-being. Moreover, as reports indicate that prison officers are often present during defendants’ video consultations with their lawyers, the draft CPC enabled the violation of core fair trial guarantees, such as the right to confidential communication with one’s lawyer and the right to adequate facilities for the preparation of a defence.
On 21 September 2025, President al-Sisi refused to sign the then-draft CPC bill into law and, instead, returned it to Parliament, requesting the legislature to:
- review the draft CPC’s provisions relating to the rights of defendants appearing before investigative and judicial authorities;
- consider the need for alternatives to pretrial detention; and
- address concerns about arbitrary interpretation arising from the vague language present throughout the text.
However, despite conducting a review of the draft CPC, on 16 October 2025, the Egyptian Parliament definitively adopted the new CPC without amending problematic articles, including those discussed above with respect to the draft CPC, as well as those concerning abusive home searches and those allowing questioning without the presence of a lawyer. The newly adopted CPC provides public officials with powers to conduct warrantless home searches in “cases of distress, danger resulting from fire, drowning, or the like” under article 48. The vague and overbroad formulation of the provision makes it liable to abuse, thus jeopardizing the right to privacy and not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with one’s home.
Additionally, in violation of the right to a fair trial, including the right to the presence and assistance of a lawyer during questioning, the new CPC grants public prosecutors the power to interrogate the suspect or accused without the presence of a lawyer under article 105, purportedly where “there are fears for the life of the accused” or on the basis that the presence of a lawyer would cause delays in the investigation. The grounds on which a suspect or accused may be denied access to a lawyer are also vague and overbroad, and so liable to abuse.
The ICJ calls on the Egyptian authorities to halt the implementation of the new CPC and prepare a new draft of the CPC in line with international human rights law and standards.
Contact
Saïd Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme; t: +41 22 979 3800, e: said.benarbia@icj.org
Nour Al Hajj, Communications & Advocacy Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme; e: nour.alhajj@icj.org
