A statement of the latest legislation issued for the benefit of Egyptian women over the past 15 years
First: Legislative Amendments in the Personal Status Law :
- Law No. 1 of 2000 regulating some of the status and procedures of litigation in matters of personal status and the provisions of Article 19 of the right to divorce from undocumented marriage if the marriage is fixed by any writing in article 20 of the wife's right to divorce.
- Law No. 91 of 2000, adding Article 76 ter of the imposition of the penalty of imprisonment to refrain from paying the debt of alimony.
- Law No. 10 of 2004 establishing family courts (as a specialized court).
- Law No. 11 of 2004 establishing the Family Insurance System Fund by Nasser Social Bank.
- Act No. 4 of 2005 raising the age of custody to 15 years.
- Amending some provisions of the Law Regulating Certain Situations and Procedures of Litigation in Personal Status Matters "Article 47" regarding guardianship over property (Law No. 176 of 2020).
- Law No. 189 of 2020 was issued amending some provisions of the Penal Code by adding Article 309 bis b, which for the first time established a description and provisions to criminalize and punish bullying.
Second: Legislative Amendments in Labor Laws :
- Law No. 12 of year 2003 promulgating the Unified Labor Law and its many rights for working women, their children, family and health, and so on.
- The Civil service law Act No. 47 of 1978 and the amendments thereto, especially in 2005, providing part-time jobs
- Civil Service Act 2015 and 2016.
Third: Legislative Amendments in the Penal Code :
- Law No. 95 of 2003 amending the Egyptian Penal Code No. 58 of 1973 on aggravating penalties for sexual assault on women.
- Act No. 147 of 2006 amending the Egyptian Penal Code No. 58 of 1973 on aggravating the penalty of sexual assault on women.
- Law No. 126 of 2008 amending the Children's Code and introducing Article 242 to put a penalty for Female genital mutilation
- Decree-Law No. 11 of 2011 amending the Egyptian Penal Code No. 58 of 1973 on aggravating the penalty of assault on women and establishing a punishment for sexual harassment.
- Decree-Law No. 50 of 2014 amending the Egyptian Penal Code No. 58 of 1973 to aggravate the penalty of harassment and add a new article that defines it
- Law No. 78 of 2016 amending the Egyptian Penal Code No. 58 of 1976 on aggravating female genital mutilation.
- Amending Article 293 of the Penal Code to confront those who evade paying alimony or are stubborn in payment (Law No. 6 of 2020).
Fourth: Legislative Amendments in Different Legislation :
- Act No. 154 of 2004 amending the Nationality Law No. 26 of 1975, which provided the right of children to the Egyptian mother in Egyptian nationality.
- The unified tax law No. 91 of 2005 and amended by Law No. 11 of 2013 and abandonment of masculinity tendency in its provisions and recognition of women as family breadwinners.
- Law No. 126 of 2008 amending the Children's Law No. 12 of 1996 and the provisions on early marriage and the penalty of a notary (ma’duhn) in the case of a marriage contract for those who have not attained the age of 18 years and the right of the custodial mother in the educational mandate to her children and establish a nursery in every prison so as to leave the children of female prisoners, And until the child reaches four years and also amend the internal regulations of the prisons by resolution No. 1058 for the year 2008 to increase the times and the length of the visit of the child to his mother who is imprisoned.
- Law No. 64 of 2010 on combating human trafficking.
- Law of Parliament No. 46 of 2014, which conditioned on a number of seats for women in the lists system.
- Law No. 23 of 2012 on the system of health insurance for women who depend on the imposition of health insurance for the breadwinning women and recognition of their existence in society.
- The Supreme Constitutional Court ruling No. 243 of judicial year 21 of 4th November 2000 unconstitutionality of the provisions of Article 8 and 11 of Law No. 97 of 1959 on the issuance of passports and the fall of Article 3 of the Minister of Internal affair's Resolution No. 3973 of 1996, which conditions the husband's consent to issue a passport for the wife and replaced by the first article of the Law No. 1 of 2000 on the jurisdiction of the temporal issues judge in considering the disputes of travel of either spouse.
- Amending some provisions of the Law on Regulating the Exercise of Political Rights, the House of Representatives Law, and the National Elections Authority Law to align with the constitutional amendments, by allocating a permanent quota of no less than 25% of parliamentary seats for women (Law No. 140 of 2020).
- Article 1 of the Senate Law stipulates allocating a quota of no less than 10% of the seats for women, and the President of the Republic has appointed 20 women to bring women's representation to approximately 14% (Law No. 141 of 2020 promulgating the Senate Law).
- Law No. 177 of 2020 was issued amending some provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code by adding a new Article 113 bis, which stipulates the non-disclosure of victims' data in crimes of harassment, violence, indecent assault, and corruption of morals, as well as those specified in Article 96 of the Child Law.
Draft Laws Prepared:
- In addition to expanding the scope of criminalization, redefining the act of female genital mutilation (FGM), and imposing stricter penalties to achieve the necessary deterrence, which are currently being studied and legal measures are being taken by the government to enact them.
- A proposed draft law amending some provisions of the Education Law No. 139 of 1981 and Al-Azhar Law No. 103 of 1961 to count child care leave and sick leave within the inter-period required for promotion, to achieve equality between employees and teachers, and to assert women's right to hold public offices and senior management positions in the State, enabling them to reconcile work requirements with family duties. The Cabinet has approved the amendment of some provisions of the Education Law in this regard.
Laws on Which Proposals and Opinions Were Submitted to the Competent Authorities:
- Comments of the National Council for Women on laws governing political participation, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the law on the protection of victims' data (Article 113 bis) in the Criminal Procedure Code, and the law amending some provisions of the Penal Code (Article 309 bis b in the Penal Code).
- Comments on draft laws sent by the Supreme Standing Committee for Human Rights regarding nationality, adultery, harassment, alimony, and prostitution.
- Observations on the proposed Egyptian Women's Guide for Parliamentary Elections and the guide on the role of women in combating corruption received from the Council's Standing Training Committee.
- Reviewing the proposal of the Committee for Women with Disabilities on taking appropriate measures to provide all facilities for persons with disabilities to enable them to claim their legal rights and interact with service-providing entities in accordance with their interests, and providing dedicated buildings for them.
- Participating in the ministerial committee formed to draft the Personal Status Law and expressing the Council's opinion on the draft law.
Laws Currently Being Studied:
- Continuing work on the file of necessary legislation to protect women from all forms of violence, and units for the protection and reception of victims of violence.
- Continuing to discuss amendments to the Personal Status Law, especially the procedural aspects in personal status cases.
- Completing work and preparation for legal and legislative proposals to eliminate legal barriers that prevent women's participation in the workforce and economic empowerment:
- Minister of Manpower decisions regarding women's work in certain professions, industries, sectors, and women's night work.
- Rules and executive regulations regarding identification documents, passport issuance procedures, and the executive regulations of the Civil Status Law.
- Proposing policies to address harassment and violence in the workplace and codes of conduct.
- Proposing further legislative amendments in labor laws.
- Working on drafting legislative proposals to provide legal protection for women from cybercrimes.
- Preparing a proposal regarding the draft Local Administration Law.
- A proposal to add amendments to the Child Law to protect girls from the danger of FGM and study other aspects related to protecting the rights of working women.
- Preparing legislative proposals regarding alternative penalties for indebted men and women ("replacing custodial sentences with public service").
- Completing work on the draft law to prevent child marriage and strengthening measures to prevent early, forced, and temporary marriage.
- Completing work on the legislative proposal regarding care leaves for children with disabilities for working women in laws regulating labor.
- Completing work on drafting legislative amendments to protect domestic workers.
