In April 2022, a year after the Prince Hamzah affair, a new electoral law and political parties law were published in the Official Gazette. With Jordan on the cusp of a politically transformative decade—at least according to official discourse—scrutinizing the laws is necessary. What’s new in this latest round of political reform? Will the two new laws salvage the eroding social contract?
The last time the presidential pardon committee was active, its members were but marionettes arranged to put on a show with no decision-making power. In my firsthand experience as a six-year political prisoner in Egypt, I witnessed the true backstage puppeteers: the state security officers. Why does the opposition play along then? Because they simply view this as a temporary opening to have some political prisoners freed before the door shuts again.
With Libya preparing to hold elections in December this year, concerns related to their legal framework threaten the whole process and raise questions about the effectiveness of ensuring Libya’s stability in the short and long term.
Two weeks ago, Kais Saied issued a decree tightening his grip on the judiciary and granting himself an extended control over its institutions. On the same day, 57 judges were dismissed, accused by the president of corruption and terrorism. In response to these measures, judges started a nationwide strike and argue that these sackings were due to their refusal to follow Saied’s instructions on trying political cases against his opponents.
Since 2011, over 20 complaints have been filed outside of Syria against regime officials for war crimes and other violations of international law. Patrick Kroker of ECCHR discusses the trends and implications of such cases.
As countries continue to respond to the pandemic’s spread, it is critical that governments recognize the domestic and international legal obligations that remain incumbent upon them in this moment.
In an effort to comprehensively address the deterioration of press freedom in Lebanon, this fact sheet proposes recommendations relevant to both the country’s legal framework and its violative practices.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and TIMEP present a joint briefing paper which documents a course of conduct by state institutions in Egypt that aims to weaken and curtail the legal profession, and thereby dismantle the last line of defense against the government’s sustained crackdown on human rights and fundamental freedoms.
TIMEP releases “Effective Communication between the Lawyer and Defendant and the Right to a Fair Trial: A Guide for Lawyers in Egypt,” authored by human rights lawyer and legal researcher Adel Ramadan.
