This Article has been re-published by Lexis Nexis-Middle East , you can acess it here.
Since 2008, economic disputes in Egypt have been fundamentally affected by a series of important legislative reforms beginning with the landmark establishment of the Egyptian Economic Court (EEC), which has since become a pillar of the judicial system alongside the ordinary and administrative judicial orders.
This article aims to highlight the legislative evolution of the EEC since its inception, examine the expansion of its jurisdiction and the recent developments concerning the introduction of electronic services, which is the first time such reform has taken place in the Egyptian judicial system.
Egypt Law No. 120/2008 was issued in order to create a specialised judicial system that guarantees speedy settlement to economic disputes. This legislative reform aimed to encourage both foreign and local investments, by creating an adequate and specialized judicial order, led by qualified and specialized judges to settle complex economic cases.
According to Article 4 of Egypt Law No. 120/2008, economic courts had exclusive jurisdiction over the following legislations:
In the last two years, Egypt Law No. 120/2008 has witnessed two major amendments.
First, the EEC was granted jurisdiction in all cases related to the application of Egypt Law No 11/2018 Bankruptcy Law. According to Article 2 of Egypt Law No 11/2018, “the first instance chamber of the EEC shall have jurisdiction over cases arising from the application of the provisions of this law.” As such, the EEC acquired exclusive jurisdiction over all cases and proceedings related to restructuring, preventive composition and bankruptcy matters. To that end, a bankruptcy department was established in each economic court and headed by a Court of Appeals judge. The bankruptcy department’s composition and competence is enshrined in Egypt Law No 11/2018.
Second, an important amendment to Egypt Law No. 120/2008 was introduced through Egypt Law No. 146/2019 which entered into force on 1 October 2019.
By virtue of Egypt Law No. 146/2019, the jurisdiction of the EEC was been widely expanded to encompass a wider set of fields and laws. Egypt Law No. 146/2019 expands the jurisdiction of EEC in the following respects:
Egypt Law No. 146/2019 expanded the jurisdiction of the primary chambers in economic courts to include crimes arising from the following laws:
In addition to that, Egypt Law No. 146/2019 expanded the jurisdiction of first instance economic courts concerning non-criminal disputes, whose values do not exceed EGP 10 million, and arising from the application of the following:
Egypt Law No. 146/2019 also raised the minimum values for first instance and appeals chambers in the EEC. First instance chambers are now competent to hear cases whose value does not exceed EGP 10 million up from EGP 5 million, while the appeals chambers became competent to hear cases whose value exceeds EGP 10 million. It is worth noting that first instance chambers have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes related to Egypt Law No 11/2018.
Establishing an e-filing service for the first time in the Egyptian judicial system allowing the electronic connection of all economic courts, and introducing the e-filing, e-proceeding and the e-notification of cases before the EEC
In order to understand the electronic procedures adopted by Egypt Law No. 146/2019, an order was provided to clarify the process.
According to Article 14 of Egypt Law No. 146/2019, it is permissible to file suits pertaining to the jurisdiction of the EEC by the persons and entities registered in the electronic registry via a signed document and deposited electronically on the EEC website.
The next step is the electronic registration of the case after concluding the payments and uploading the documents.
In case of using the e-services provided by the EEC, the case must also be prepared electronically by the preparation committee after being sent by the court clerks.
It is mandatory if a case has been filed electronically that the parties’ notifications must occur in the same way. In order to fulfil this obligation, parties must register their email address in the unified EEC e-register especially created for this purpose.
Litigants also have the ability to submit documents, defences and requests electronically.
Finally, when a judgement is issued in a case that has been filed electronically, the parties are also notified electronically by the clerks.
Egypt Law No. 146/2019 is considered an important step towards the development of the EEC’s jurisdiction to hear a variety of complex economic cases with the aim of reducing the burden on the rest of the courts. In addition to that, the disputes before the EEC will result in quick settlement by qualified and specialized judges who understand the delicacy and complexity of economic issues. Moreover, this expansion of the jurisdiction aims to encourage local and foreign investments while guaranteeing a well-established specialized judicial order. In order to fulfil this objective, Egypt Law No. 146/2019 not only expanded widely the jurisdiction of the EEC, but it has integrated full electronic services for the first time in the Egyptian judiciary.
It is worth mentioning that Egypt Law No. 146/2019 had stipulated that the Minister of Justice, in coordination with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, will issue decrees regulating registration in the electronic registry, and the electronic services being offered by the EEC.
A recent decree by the Minister of Justice under Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 published on 10 December 2020 has provided a much needed regulatory framework for e-filing litigations by inaugurating an electronic registry for litigation before the Egyptian Economic Courts. The application of e-filing before the economic courts was contingent upon issuing regulations on the electronic registry. As such, this Decree puts into motion a true and important shift in the Egyptian judicial system and one that will likely herald a digital transformation across all branches of the judiciary.
Features of Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020
Article 1 of Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 creates a unified electronic registry to record the chosen e-mail addresses for individuals and entities willing to receive the electronic litigation service, in order to be notified electronically of all case procedures. This article specifically aims to apply the economic courts law’s definition of the registry.
Articles 3-6 of Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 list the procedures required by public and private entities to be registered in the electronic registry, including the documents required for registration by individuals, ministries, public entities, governorates, banks, companies, law firms, etc.
It is worth mentioning that Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 distinguishes between two categories of individuals and entities.
There are entities that must be registered on the electronic registry, primarily entities that concerned with the application of the economic courts law, including public entities and authorities, local and foreign companies, and law firms. There are also entities that may register on electronic register, namely any individual who so chooses. Those wishing to register on the electronic register may do so on the economic courts’ electronic litigation website
Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 stipulates that an electronic notification sent to a registered person or entity will be deemed as received from the date that the notification was sent. This important effect aims to eliminate all notification issues due to clerks or bailiffs’ delays. As soon as an electronic notification is sent, all its legal effects and any related procedural duration take immediate effect.
This Decree is part of a larger initiative to digitize and modernize the judicial system in order to streamline procedures and reduce delays thereby making the judiciary far more accessible and less corrupt.
From the establishment of the EEC in 2008 to the expansion of its role in 2018 and 2019 along with the introduction of e-litigation services, this provides an optimistic beginning towards the modernisation of the Egyptian judiciary. The EEC is an example to be followed as it aims to provide better and more accessible services to litigants while being capable of handling complex issues. Electronic services also aim to reduce physical interaction causing both delays and institutional corruption as well as expedite judicial services which would otherwise require far more time.
Of course, Egypt Law No. 146/2019 requires more executive regulation. While Egypt Ministerial Decree No. No. 8548/2020 is a positive first step, new regulations are required to set the framework for the remaining electronic services mentioned by Egypt Law No. 146/2019.
