The workshop on “The National Strategy’s Legislative Prospects” recommendations

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), represented by the NCHR’s legislative affairs committee, led by Nagwa Ibrahim, the workshop’s coordinator, has held a workshop on “The National Human Rights Strategy’s Legislative Prospects: The Alternative Sentences Bill”. The workshop was held in collaboration with the Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR), represented by Alaa Shalabi, and the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), represented by Essam Shiha.

The workshop comprised valuable discussions forseeing the legislative prospects of the National Human Rights Strategy which was announced by the Standing Supreme Human Rights Committee, under the patronage of the President of the Republic, on September 11th 2021. The discussions addressed the development of penal legislations by suggesting the drafting of relevant legislations and amending the existing laws to boost rights and freedoms and improve justice mechanisms and instruments.

Furthermore, the workshop prioritised conducting a profound dialogue between various stakeholers on different aspects of penal modernisation, and addressing an alternative sentences bill in simple crimes, which aims to mitigate social suffering and assist the State in avoiding unnecessary economic burdens.

The workshop produced a number of recommendations aiming to perform a comprehensive modernisation of the Egyptian Penal Code, in line with the developments in the contemporary international and Egyptian jurisprudence, and the national needs, constitutional frameworks and international standards. The key recommendations, included:

- The need to implement an alternative sentences system in simple crimes, to reduce the financial burdens of the State and the prisons sector. Accordingly, NCHR adopts the presented alternative sentences bill.

- Under the framework of the NCHR’s role as highlighted by the 2014 Constitution, the council shall present the bill to the Parliament for discussion and approval.

- The importance of paving the way for revising the Egyptian Penal Code, in line with the contemporary penal philosophy in the world and the Arab region, and conducting an extended dialogue among law specialists on the matter.

- Dropping the approach of partial legislative amendments that will not benefit the development of the legislative system and boosting penal justice.