Egyptian Judges' Club
The Egyptian Judges' Club (Nadi al Quda) was founded in Cairo, Egypt in 1939, primarily as a social club for judges.[1][2] It is not formally registered as a professional association, as that would place it under the jurisdiction of Egypt's Ministry of Social Affairs and limit its independence, an outcome the club's members wished to avoid.[3][4][5] It considers itself and acts as the de facto representative of Egypt's judges, and has a history of speaking out in favor of judicial independence and political democracy.[6][7][8][9]
Any member of the Egyptian judiciary and any Egyptian prosecutor can join it. It has over 9,000 members, including over 90% of Egyptian judges.[10][11]
In the late 1960s, the Judges' Club criticized what it viewed as the disregard by the government of Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser for the law.[12] In August 1969, the Nasser government dissolved the board of the Judges' Club, announced that the president would appoint its officers, and dismissed over 200 judges in what the judiciary called the "Massacre of the Judges".[13][14][15]
Subsequently, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat re-appointed the dismissed judges in 1973, and two years later the Judges' Club re-attained its autonomy.[16] In the late 1970s, the Judges Club' issued statements in support of human rights improvements in Egypt, and greater respect by the government for the rule of law.[17]