Egypt judges defy appointments law

CAIRO — Judges from one of the Egyptian judiciary’s three main branches voted Saturday to defy a newly adopted and widely disputed law giving the president a degree of control over the judiciary, nominating as head of their branch a judge who ruled against a government decision to surrender two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

State Council judges, who rule on disputes with the government, voted overwhelmingly to put forward judge Yahya Dakroury, their most senior, as their nominee to head their branch. The move clashes with the new law that stipulates that each judiciary branch nominate three of its seven most senior judges to the president to choose one to head each of the three branches.

The judiciary’s two other branches — the court of cassation and government lawyers — already have complied with the new law, adopted by parliament and ratified by the president last month with uncustomary speed. Many judges see the law as an infringement of the judiciary’s independence and a violation of the principle of the separation of government branches.