President El-Sisi Issues the New Criminal Procedure Law

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued the new Criminal Procedure Law after the approval of the House of Representatives and the removal of the reasons for objection to it.

President El-Sisi has approved the issuance of the new Criminal Procedure Law, following the approval of the House of Representatives in its general session on October 16, 2025. 

This approval included amendments to the provisions that had been objected to by the President of the Republic, addressing the causes of objection, increasing the guarantees for the protection of public rights and freedoms, responding to practical considerations, ensuring precise legislative drafting, and preventing any discrepancies in interpretation or issues in implementation.

The key provisions introduced in the amended articles of objection are as follows:

-Stipulating that the new Criminal Procedure Law shall come into effect starting from the first judicial year following its date of issue on October 1, 2026. This is to allow those responsible for its enforcement—including judges, members of the Public Prosecution, judicial police officers, and lawyers—to familiarize themselves with the newly introduced provisions, and to allow time for the courts to establish the telephonic notification centers stipulated in the law.

-Consolidating the constitutional protection granted to residences, and clarifying the exceptional cases for entry according to specific controls (distress, danger resulting from fire or drowning, or similar circumstances).

-Regulating the procedures for the presence of lawyers during the interrogation of a defendant whose life is feared to be at risk. This includes increasing the guarantees provided to the defendant who is ordered to be placed in a correctional and rehabilitation center or a detention facility pending his/her interrogation in the presence of his/her lawyer. This is achieved by restricting the placement order to specific cases and justifications, limiting it to a temporary period, subjecting the placement order to judicial review, and granting the placed defendant the right to appeal the judicial order issued for his/her placement or the extension of such placement. This contrasts with the previous provision that did not set a time ceiling for the placement.

-Increasing the alternatives to pretrial detention from three to seven, to provide the investigating authority with the opportunity to choose the most suitable alternative to pretrial detention in a manner that leads to avoiding resorting to pretrial detention except as a last resort. (The newly introduced alternatives to pretrial detention are: obligating the defendant not to leave a specified geographic scope except after obtaining permission from the Public Prosecution; obligating the defendant to refrain from receiving or meeting specific people or contacting them in any way; temporarily prohibiting the defendant from possessing or holding firearms and their ammunition and requiring their surrender to the police department or station within the jurisdiction of his/her residence; and using technical means to track the defendant when operational conditions are available, which will be issued by a decision from the Minister of Justice in coordination with the Ministers of Interior and Communications).

-Implementing the recommendation of the Supreme Standing Committee for Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to periodically present the case files of defendants held in pretrial detention to the Counsellor, the Public Prosecutor, every time three months have passed since their detention or since the last presentation, to take the necessary measures deemed sufficient to conclude the investigation, and not just once as stipulated in the draft law.

-Emphasizing the continuation of traditional procedures for notifying litigants alongside notification through the new information technology means stipulated in the draft law, in case notification through technical means is impossible for any reason, so that work is not disrupted and legal deadlines are preserved.

-Increasing the guarantees provided to a defendant charged with a felony who is tried in absentia, if he/she or his/her private attorney is unable to attend any of the sessions scheduled for hearing the appeal filed by him/her. This is achieved by obligating the court to postpone the appeal hearing once to allow the opportunity for his/her attendance, so that he/she can exercise his/her right to defend him/herself against the seriousness of the felony charge.

These legislative amendments represent an important addition to the guarantees established for the protection of human rights, both for the individual and their residence. They also reduce the reliance on pretrial detention, increase the speed of completing Public Prosecution investigations and trial procedures, while ensuring the guarantees of a just trial.