CAIRO: President of the Judges' Club Zakaria Abdel Aziz demanded changes to the Club's regulations that would restrict the presidency of the club to one term. Hisham Al Bastawisy, member of the Judges' Club and vice chairman of the Court of Appeals told Daily News Egypt that this change will also forbid any president from retaining his post for two successive three-year terms. The Judges' Club president, according to the current system, has the right to nominate himself for an unlimited number of terms. Al Bastawisy also told Daily News Egypt that "the judges are doing what they think any person holding an official government position should do. We are trying to prove our credibility to the public by implementing delegation of authority. Referring to the recent escalations between the Judges' Club and the Minister of Justice, Al Bastawisy says that the government is trying to pressure the judges for revealing forgery cases in the previous parliamentary elections. He also believes the ministry is lashing out is response to the Club's disapproval of the government's executive authorities' interference with the judiciary. The conflict between the judges and the Minister of Justice reached its peak last Monday when Yehia Ragheb Dakroury, chairman of the State Council's Judges Club, filed a lawsuit against Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marie at the State Council, accusing him of insulting judges. Dakroury s complaint, which is the first of its kind, is one of a series of accusations exchanged between the Judges Club and the Minister over the past few weeks. The whole conflict started when a statement was issued by the Minister of Justice in public in which he indicated that two thirds of judges "do not understand anything. According to Al Bastawisy, the judges benefited a great deal from their strict positions regarding election rigging which helped them gain more "public trust.
