CAIRO -
For several years, Egyptians have complained about the slowness of litigation procedures, which made resorting to the judiciary the last option for some, but it seems that the crisis may escalate after the rise in fees and the adoption of some new procedures that lawyers say slow down the litigation process.
All this has greatly reduced the number of new lawsuits - according to lawyers, while the government confirms that it continues to work to accelerate the speedy justice system.
Litigation fees have increased during the recent period by rates ranging between 100 and 1000%, and obtaining certificates or copies of papers has become more complicated despite the application of electronic archiving, according to lawyers who spoke to Al Jazeera Net.
The government has doubled and recently introduced fees, including stamps, printed forms, automated service, and inquiries, as well as fees for issuing table certificates or obtaining copies of portfolios or copies of issued judgments, as well as increasing fees for agencies.
The increasing number of cases before Egyptian courts has slowed down litigation procedures (Reuters)
Double the fee
According to the appeal lawyer, Muhammad Abu Zekry, litigation fees have increased by rates ranging between 100 and 1000%, by doubling many old fees to varying degrees or introducing new ones.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Zekri says that lawyers were forced to double the value of their fees, which include case fees, especially since the new regulations approved by the state forced them to waste a lot of time, effort and money.
The courts do not collect fixed fees for each case - as some believe - but they charge fees for many small details related to the case, which increases the total value of the expenses, according to the spokesman.
For example, the government raised the price of stamps from 1.5 pounds to 15 pounds (a dollar is about 30 pounds) and increased the price of the "contract stamp" that is placed on each paper of the case, from 1 pound to 3 pounds - according to Abu Zekry - who says that some These issues may consist of 50 papers and may double or times that number depending on the topic.
These details raised the fees for the “signature validity” case, for example, from 1,000 pounds to 5,000 pounds, due to the increases and procedures that were previously completed in one hour and now took 3 days, according to Abu Zekri.
The lawyer added, "I filed a lawsuit this week before the administrative judiciary, which previously cost 150 pounds. Now, it cost me 650 pounds to pay a normal fee, expediting fee, tax, and a lawyer's stamp," pointing out that this is a simple type of case compared to other larger and more expensive cases.
He attributes the increase in litigation expenses to factors other than fees, pointing out that misdemeanors and felonies do not charge them, but their fees start from 4,000 and 10,000 pounds instead of 1,000 and 5,000, respectively, for him at least, and this is due to the increase in transportation, food and drink, and the lengthening of Prolonged procedures, all of which increase the problem of prolonging litigation.
He continued, "A lawyer is part of society. He has family obligations and expenses, like any citizen. Therefore, the higher the cost, the higher his fees, and all of this increases the burdens of clients."
According to the spokesman, the government is talking about imposing a tax on lawyers at 14% of the case fees, instead of the old tax, which ranged between 20 and 120 pounds, which will be added to the client as well.
Developing the litigation system
In October 2021, the Minister of Justice, Counselor Omar Marwan, said that the courts consider 11 million cases annually, but he returned in February 2022, saying that the number reaches 15 million for all types of cases (civil, criminal, and family), indicating that Egypt has 14 Only a thousand judges, some of whom work in criminal, civil and family cases.
Marwan pointed out that the ministry is working seriously to end all old cases, noting that the pandemic conditions prevented the completion of all deferred cases during 2021 as scheduled, indicating the end of all family court cases that were pending before 2021, with the exception of 16 cases, and ending Likewise, from all primary civil lawsuits that were filed before 2020, with the exception of 2394 cases.
According to Marwan, the ministry is working to develop the judicial system technologically, as filing lawsuits and renewing detention takes place via the Internet.
Incomprehensible fee
For his part, lawyer Nadi Abu El-Ela says that the government has begun to oblige the claimant to pay litigation fees and attorney fees in advance, instead of collecting them from losses after the end of the case, and this may push the right holder to withdraw from litigation in the first place because of his inability to pay these fees.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Al-Ela added that the fees increased in a non-insurmountable way after they were within reach, pointing out that "the claim for the receipt of the trust, for example, has become costing its owner up to 5 thousand pounds, and therefore everyone who has a debt proven by the receipt of a trust with this amount or Less than he will not resort to the courts."
These measures, as the speaker says, "mean that people must guarantee their rights through blank trust receipts, even if the debt does not exceed a thousand pounds, not to mention that it means the loss of everyone who has a previous right to one thousand, two thousand, or even 5 thousand pounds, and is guaranteed by a receipt of the same value as the debt." Unless he filed a lawsuit some time ago.
He continued, "In the past, we used to get the fees from the loser after the end of the case, and we used to write requests and lawsuits by hand on regular paper, and we got certificates from the schedule or a copy of the judgment for 1.5 pounds and 15 pounds, respectively. Now we are obligated to buy printed forms from the prosecution in exchange for 10 pounds and fill it out in order to obtain any document, in addition to imposing a martyr’s fee and a fee for each year of the research years and another for each paper of the case.”
Development is part of the problem
There is another bigger problem, says Abu Al-Ela, which is that the application of electronic archiving contributed to the delay in everything related to litigation, because the old employees are not good at dealing with technology, and therefore they take a month to do things that those who are good at dealing with computers and the Internet may accomplish in two or three days. Aqsa, adding, "Relying on technology aims to reduce the time, but it has extended the time to obtain papers in practice."
As for the length of litigation, it is a matter of fact in Egypt - according to Abu Al-Ela - who confirms that it is a reality that is difficult to change, because the defendant often abuses the law in order to procrastinate.
He added, "Judges want to terminate the cases because they are in the thousands, but they are forced to grant each party all its rights, which leads to the postponement of cases more than once and for periods starting from one month and up to 4 months for misdemeanours, as for felonies, the delay may reach 6 months each time."