Traffic, anti-terror, hotels laws to be amended to combat terrorism

CAIRO – 3 July 2018: As part of Egypt’s war to uproot terrorism,the Parliament’s Legislative Committee initially approved the government-drafted law to amend some provisions of laws on hotels and tourist facilities, traffic, and terror to combat terrorism.

The draft law will add Article 23 to the Law No.1 of 1973 on Hotels and Tourist Facilities. The article stipulates that whoever violates Article 16 in the law, which reads that those who manage hotel facilities shall notify the Ministry of Tourism at the beginning of each month with a registered letter, accompanied by a statement on the hotel guests, shall be punished with at least two years in prison and a fine not more than LE 5,000.

Article 3 of the draft law amends the Law no. 66 of 1973 on Traffic as it adds item 8 to the law’s Article 11, referring that to have a license a device to locate and track sites shall be installed at wheel drive vehicles, heavy trucks with a load of more than seven tons, taxis, and 14-passenger buses.

Additionally, a second paragraph was added to Article 19 to ban any transfer of the vehicles’ownership except upon the request of the owner or his agent.
It also punishes whoever rents a car or a motorcycle without notifying the police station in his district.

In the same context, Article 5 of the draft law replaces Article 28 of the 2015 Anti-Terror Law to punish whoever, whether verbally, in writing, or by any other means, promotes or prepares to promote for a perpetration of any terrorist act directly or indirectly with at least 15 years in prison instead of 7 years if these acts were promoted againsthouses of worship, a state agency, public places or among the members of the Armed Forces or Police.

“Indirect promotion shall include the promotion of ideas and beliefs inciting the use of violence by any of the means set forth in the preceding paragraph of this article.”
President Abdel Fatah al Sisi signed on April 24 law No. 25 of 2018 on the establishment of the supreme council for combating terrorism and extremism.

The law, earlier passed by the Parliament, stipulates that the council will be entrusted with mobilizing institutional and community support for countering all forms of terrorism, drying up its sources of funding and curing its roots.

The law states that the council is an independent body with all technical, financial and administrative powers.

Moreover, politicians, lawmakers and experts called on the state to amend the laws that may precede fast litigation and to swiftly handle terrorism-related cases.

In this regard, the Parliament approved amendments to the Criminal Procedure Laws, to the procedures of appealing before the Court of Cassation, to the legal procedures concerning terrorist entities and terrorism-related crimes, and to Emergency and Anti-Terrorism law.