On Dec. 4, three presidential decisions were issued, requiring judges known for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood to retire. It was also decided to carry on with the investigations of the Judges for Egypt movement, accused of unlawfully interfering in political affairs, mainly in the results of the 2012 presidential elections, where candidate Mohammed Morsi won by 13,238,000 votes to 12,351,000 votes for his opponent Mohammed Shafiq.

This is not to mention accusations of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood by signing the Rabia al-Adawiya declaration, on July 24, 2013, whereby they declared the constitutional legitimacy of former President Morsi and demanded that the constitution be implemented, calling for dialogue and the respect and protection of the right to peaceful demonstration as per the law, rejecting violence and preventing the bloodshed of all Egyptians.

Despite all this, the controversy shrouding the future of the judges, the sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood and those who were involved with the organization during its rule is still continuing.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued three presidential orders, requiring nine judges to retire based on the final court rulings that were issued on Sept. 22, 2014, by the Supreme Judicial Council’s disciplinary board, dismissing the judges from their duties. Among the judges are former public prosecutor Talaat Abdullah and former President of the Cairo Court of Appeal Ahmed Yehya, in addition to seven judges from the Judges for Egypt movement. At the same time, the Competence and Disciplinary Council of the Cairo Court of Appeal decided to postpone the prosecution of 15 judges from the Judges for Egypt movement, until the session of Jan. 19 as part of the lawsuit filed against 56 judges to call on their dismissal. Therefore, the legal status of the judges is in question, while some of them consider these procedures to be illegal.