Ministry of Investment’s Decision F

In accordance with Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 (the “Investment Law”), which provided for the creation of petition committees to look into investor disputes, the Ministry of Investment issued a decision last February[1] forming two petition committees at the GAFI (“GAFI”). In a recent decision published on 22 July 2018, the Ministry has formed “the first” petition committee at GAFI, appointing members that have been recommended by the Executive Chairman of GAFI, in accordance with the Law and previous ministerial decrees.

Background

The overall system for dispute resolution under the new Investment Law is quite similar to the repealed one. It comprises an internal complaints process at GAFI for resolving administrative disputes arising from the application of the Law, in addition to two Ministerial Committees where bigger disputes between investors and the State could be reviewed. Thus, in application of the new Law, the Prime Minister formed the Ministerial Committee for Dispute Resolution[2] in September 2017, and the Ministerial Committee for the Settlement of Investment Contracts[3] in November 2017. In February 2018, the Minister of Investment issued decision No. 11 of 2018 creating two petition committees to be headed by a member of a judicial body which was not named at the time. The decision provided that the membership of each of the petition committees is to include a GAFI representative and an expert. Petitions can be submitted on a form that is available at GAFI, and complaints can only be made within 15 days from the date of being notified of the challenged administrative decision. Finally, it provided that GAFI shall work towards creating an electronic system for the registration of complaints that will be tied to GAFI’s website. It is worth mentioning that under the Law, petition committees must settle complaints that are submitted before them within 30 days from the date of hearing the last of the parties. The committees’ decisions are final and binding to the government authorities in question, with no prejudice to the investor’s right to resort to the regular court system.

The New Minister of Investment Decision

On 22 July 2018, the Minister of Investment issued decision No. 135 of 2018 forming “the first” petition committee at GAFI.[4] The new decision cites a letter from the Executive Chairman of GAFI whereby she had recommended representatives from GAFI to be appointed in the committee. It names the Chairman of the Cairo Appeals Court as the Head of the first Petitions Committee, and the General Manager for Company Legal Affairs, as well as another member to be among the experts on the committee. The rest of the decision echoes the operational and procedural rules of the committee as stated under the Law and the Minister’s previous decision No. 11 of 2018.   [1] Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation Decision No. 11/2018 forming two petition committees at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Egyptian Gazette, Issue No. 30, 6 February 2018. [2] Prime Minister Decree No. 2094/2017 forming the Ministerial Committee for the Resolution of Investment Disputes, Official Gazette, Issue No. 38 (bis) (a), 25 September 2017. [3] Prime Minister Decree No. 2376/2017 forming the Ministerial Committee for the Settlement of Investment Contracts, Official Gazette, Issue No. 44 (bis) (b), 5 November 2017. [4] Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation Decision No. 135/2018 forming the first petition committee at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Egyptian Gazette, Issue No. 165, 22 July 2018.