2007 Assessment
Egypt: Integrity Indicators Scorecard
| Egypt: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Law Enforcement | ||
| Indicators | Score | |
| 80 | Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective? | 50 |
| 81 | Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions? | 75 |
Indicator and sub-Indicator Details
| 80 | Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective? | |||||||
| 80a: In practice, appointments to the law enforcement agency (or agencies) are made according to professional criteria. | ||||||||
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Comments: In practice, appointments to the law enforcement agency (police) are made according to professional criteria. Police officers are prepared in a faculty that follows the ministry of the Interior not the ministry of Education or high education in which they study law and all police sciences. There are also specialized tracks for police officers, such as social police officers and physicians. Post graduate studies are available to officers in the Mubarak Police Academy. The medium-level police men are prepared in a six-month institute and are required to have an educational certificate (until grade 12 in secondary schools). Soldiers, the lowest rank, are appointed without any educational requirements. References: Law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority
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| 80b: In practice, the law enforcement agency (or agencies) has a budget sufficient to carry out its mandate. | ||||||||
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Comments: The allocations of the police and security forces constitute 12.4 percent of the general budget of the state. This percent is big enough in comparison to the number of employees in the ministry of the Interior. In fact, the general budget of the state satisfies all the needs of the ministry of Interior as one of the sovereign ministries. References: Abd-Al-Khaliq Farouq The General Budget of The State And Human Rights, The Human Rights Association for Assisting Prisoners, P. 64.
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| 80c: In practice, the law enforcement agency is protected from political interference. | ||||||||
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Comments: According to article 184 of the Egyptian Constitution, the police is a regular civil authority. Its higher head is the president of the republic that is entrusted with serving people, securing peace and tranquility, preserving the system and the general security and applying all relevant laws and regulations. But in practice, the police is no more than a political tool in the hands of those in power. As exemplified in its treatment of ordinary citizens, as well as in peaceful demonstrations calling for political reform, the police authority is just the repression and suppression tool of the political regime, which damages all those who call for reform and which terrifies ordinary citizens. References: Law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority Article 184 of the Egyptian Constitution.
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| 81 | Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions? | |||||||
| 81a: In law, there is an independent mechanism for citizens to complain about police action. | ||||||||
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Comments: Articles 162 and 210 of the criminal procedures law gives all individuals the right to bring a legal suit and to complain against any individuals. References: Articles 162, 210 and 232 of the criminal procedures law.
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| 81b: In practice, the independent law enforcement complaint reporting mechanism responds to citizen's complaints within a reasonable time period. | ||||||||
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Comments: In practice, the Attorney General responds to citizens' complaints within a time period that is determined by political circumstances. For example violations and rape attempts by policemen against female journalists in the demonstration calling for political reform on May 25, 2005 is delayed and takes long time periods. Lawsuits against low-rank officers for torturing people in police stations may be settled in a relatively reasonable time period. References: Several media reports
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| 81c: In law, there is an agency/entity to investigate and prosecute corruption committed by law enforcement officials. | ||||||||
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Comments: By virtue of law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority, there is a Military Judicial Council inside the Ministry of Interior that serves as an internal disciplinary tool. This council consists of high-rank officers. The penalty decisions of this council are often administrative ones: deduction from the salary, or halting work for limited time periods. But this council does not convert these violations and crimes to courts. This is the main reason for the widespread phenomenon of torture in police stations in Egypt, not only in prisons or the places where people are detained without court decisions (according to the law of the emergency state). References: Law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority.
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| 81d: In practice, when necessary, the agency/entity independently initiates investigations into allegations of corruption by law enforcement officials. | ||||||||
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Comments: In practice, the Military Judicial Council of the Ministry of Interior sometimes initiates investigations into allegations of corruption by law enforcement officials. The penalty decisions of this council are often administrative ones: deduction from the salary or halting work for limited time periods. In case of legal suits against enforcement officials (namely officers) in front of courts or the natural judge, the police authority represented in the council makes haste to issue a decision (usually a weak administrative decision) before the ordinary court makes its own decision, so that the convicted officers benefit from the legal rule that prohibits issuing two judgment decisions for one crime, and that if two decisions are given, the first one (that of the council) is the one that must be implemented. References: Article 109 of law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority.
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| 81e: In law, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings. | ||||||||
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Comments: According to articles 162, 210 and 232 of the criminal procedures law, initiating investigations against law enforcement officials must be done through the office of the Attorney General only. This is a kind of immunity from criminal proceedings. References: Articles 162, 210 and 232 of the criminal procedures law. Article 109 of law no. 109/1971 organizing the police authority.
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| 81f: In practice, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings. | ||||||||
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Comments: Although law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings, Egyptian legislation puts obstacles that handicap claimers or offended people from bringing lawsuits against them. Articles 162, 210 and 232 of the criminal procedures law exclude civil servants or judiciary arrest officials from being prosecuted for the crime they commit while doing their jobs. Although immunity from criminal proceedings are not clearly stated for law enforcement officials, there are exceptions and forms of protection which provide these officials with factual immunity. References: Abd-Allah Khaleel The Laws Restricting Civil And Political Rights in Egyptian legislation, PP. 75-76.
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