Lawyers from 34 local syndicates across Egypt staged a boycott of criminal court proceedings on Sunday in protest against imposed administrative fees, widely referred to as "automation fees."
The boycott, lasting two days, was called by Egypt’s Lawyers Syndicate after judicial authorities failed to respond to demands for the cancellation of fees on verdict forms and portfolio reviews.
The syndicate’s official Facebook page published footage showing walkouts and empty courtrooms in jurisdictions including Sohag, Fayoum, South and North Qalyoubia, Menoufiya, Kafr El-Sheikh, South Giza, North and South Dakahliya, North and South Sharqiya, Qena, and others.
At least 20 other regional lawyers syndicates, including those in Helwan, Suez, Beni Suef, Luxor, South Sinai, Aswan, Assiut, Tanta, Minya, and Cairo's northern, southern, and new districts, also observed the strike, according to the Lawyers Syndicate.
Last Wednesday, the syndicate announced the boycott as the first in a series of escalating measures. Two nationwide protests are scheduled to follow, one outside all primary courts on May 29, and another on June 18.
Should the Court of Appeals continue to enforce the charges, the syndicate plans to hold an emergency general assembly on June 21 to determine its next steps.
"Today's courtroom abstention achieved between 75% and 80% success," Abu Bakr Dowa, a board member of the syndicate, told Al Manassa.
"Most regional syndicates followed through with the syndicate's decision, and their representatives were present at criminal circuits to have the boycott officially recorded in session logs," he added.
However, Dowa noted that some criminal circuits proceeded with hearings involving detained defendants, obliging lawyers to attend to protect clients’ rights.
Some courts, according to Dowa, appeared to circumvent the boycott by issuing blanket acquittals in absentia, a move he described as undermining the defendants' right to full legal representation. "How can you acquit someone without their lawyer being present?" he said.
Magdy Abdel Halim, former spokesperson for the Lawyers Syndicate, corroborated this account, citing cases from South Cairo and Alexandria where lawyers documented the strike, only for judges to acquit all defendants without trial.
"Issuing generalized rulings like this damages the integrity of justice," Abdel Halim told Al Manassa. "Judges and lawyers are part of one system that exists to protect rights, not clash with each other."
Meanwhile, the parliamentary affairs committee of the Nation's Future Party hosted a dialogue Sunday with the head of the Lawyers Synidcate Abdel Halim Allam and several board members.
In a statement, the party said its parliamentary bloc sympathized with the lawyers' objections to the automation service fees and pledged to form a joint committee to examine legislative tools for addressing the dispute.
The party also vowed to submit a formal recommendation to the speaker of parliament, proposing the issue be referred to relevant parliamentary committees.
The crisis began in early March when Mohamed Nasr Sayed, head of the Cairo Courts of Appeal, issued a decision imposing a new 33-pound ($0.66) "portfolio review fee" per document submitted. Additional charges for services like issuing certificates rose to 60.5 pounds while obtaining an executable copy of a judgment now costs 242 pounds, according to Syndicate Council member Rabie El-Malwany.
On March 8, the Lawyers Syndicate publicly rejected the fees, arguing they contradicted constitutional guarantees of access to justice. In a statement, the syndicate criticized the lack of consultation before imposing the charges, noting that lawyers, as an integral part of the judicial system under the constitution, were excluded from discussions.
"These fees violate the constitutional right to litigation,” the syndicate said in a statement, noting that it had not been consulted ahead of the decision, despite lawyers being legal partners to the judiciary under Egyptian law.
