Economic Courts Set-up in Eight Gov
Economic Courts Set-up in Eight Governorates
Since the issuance of the Economic Courts Law in May of this year, Egypt Legal Update has taken a keen interest in the subject due to its potential impact on the business environment in Egypt, especially as concerns commercial dispute resolution. Thus the new Law was presented and discussed in the July 2008 Update and a follow up was mentioned in the August 2008 Update. Here is a further update on the matter: On October 21st, 2008 the Minister of Justice issued Decree No. 8603 of 2008 specifying the locations for the first eight Economic Courts. These are in Cairo, Alexandria, Tanta, Mansoura, Ismailia, Beni-Sweif, Assiut and Qena. As commented in the August Update, this gain shows that the Ministry of Justice is quickly putting the new Law into implementation and that serious steps are being taken in order to get the new courts up and running.
The choice of location for the eight new courts, however, carries an indication that it was based on a geographical approach, covering various areas of the county. This is not an encouraging indication. The new courts are meant to be providing the legal system with a specialized, fast track, alternative to the traditional court procedures. The disputes which should be referred to the new courts will undoubtedly be mainly in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. Spreading the eight new Courts across the country in a geographically «fair» manner will dilute resources and have little impact.
Since the issuance of the Economic Courts Law in May of this year, Egypt Legal Update has taken a keen interest in the subject due to its potential impact on the business environment in Egypt, especially as concerns commercial dispute resolution. Thus the new Law was presented and discussed in the July 2008 Update and a follow up was mentioned in the August 2008 Update. Here is a further update on the matter: On October 21st, 2008 the Minister of Justice issued Decree No. 8603 of 2008 specifying the locations for the first eight Economic Courts. These are in Cairo, Alexandria, Tanta, Mansoura, Ismailia, Beni-Sweif, Assiut and Qena. As commented in the August Update, this gain shows that the Ministry of Justice is quickly putting the new Law into implementation and that serious steps are being taken in order to get the new courts up and running.
The choice of location for the eight new courts, however, carries an indication that it was based on a geographical approach, covering various areas of the county. This is not an encouraging indication. The new courts are meant to be providing the legal system with a specialized, fast track, alternative to the traditional court procedures. The disputes which should be referred to the new courts will undoubtedly be mainly in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. Spreading the eight new Courts across the country in a geographically «fair» manner will dilute resources and have little impact.