A year's delay, again
Egypt's House of Representatives gave final approval to postpone implementation of the country's new Criminal Procedure Law from October 1, 2026 to October 1, 2027, during an emergency plenary session chaired by Counselor Hisham Badawy, according to Daily News Egypt.
Officials told parliament the extra year was needed to complete electronic systems for notifications and remote litigation, finish linking databases between judicial and law-enforcement bodies, and train personnel in the new procedures, Daily News Egypt reported.
The amending bill is narrow in form: it simply replaces the phrase "the first of October following the date of its publication" with "the first of October 2027" in Article 6 of the original law, according to Daily News Egypt, leaving the substance of the law itself untouched.
The explanatory note to the draft law stated that applying the Criminal Procedure Law represents an integrated system extending across the republic, necessitating practical testing of the newly introduced systems and procedures, as well as monitoring and addressing any obstacles that may arise during the preparation and trial operation phases prior to actual implementation, Daily News Egypt reported.
The law parliament is in no hurry to apply
The law itself was issued as Law No. 174 of 2025, after Egypt's parliament passed sweeping changes to criminal procedure in January 2025 — the country's first overhaul of the criminal procedure code since 1950, according to The National. "The previous law was based on a constitution from 1923. The last time it was changed was in 1950. 75 years ago," said Ehab El Tamawy, a member of parliament who worked on the legislation, the newspaper reported.
The new law lowers the maximum length of pretrial detention from six months to four for misdemeanours and from 18 months to 12 for felonies; for cases carrying the death penalty or life imprisonment, the maximum period was set at 18 months, The National reported.
The law also expands the list of alternatives to pretrial detention, increasing them from three to seven, and limits the circumstances in which authorities may enter private homes to emergencies such as fires, floods or distress calls, according to Manassa. It also grants prosecutors new powers, with a court order, to monitor suspects' online communications, record calls and inspect devices — provisions human rights groups flagged as concerns alongside expanded police investigative authority and new curbs on defence lawyers' access to case files, according to The National.
A law that already survived one veto
After parliament passed the legislation in April 2025, Sisi vetoed it over eight contested articles; parliament then revised the disputed clauses and he signed the amended version into law on November 12, 2025, according to Manassa.
The most contentious provision, Article 105, allows prosecutors to interrogate suspects without a lawyer present in cases they describe as urgent or involving a threat to the suspect's safety. The presidency said the revised law included "enhanced safeguards" that preserve rights and public freedoms while narrowing prosecutorial discretion, Manassa reported, but Lawyers' Syndicate head Abdel Halim Allam called the provision "a dangerous breach of defendants' right to counsel."
What rights groups want done with the extra year
Rights campaigners argue the extension should be used for more than administrative preparation. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms' "Stop the Death Penalty in Egypt" campaign called on authorities to use the year to strengthen safeguards in capital cases, including guaranteed notice to defence lawyers and families of execution dates and a moratorium on new death sentences, according to Manassa.
The campaign said the delay must not become a "silent wait" and should instead allow public debate and legislative review of provisions affecting the right to life, Manassa reported. Egypt executed 23 people in 2025, up from 13 in 2024, while courts imposed 492 death sentences last year, a 35 per cent increase on 2024, according to Amnesty International's annual report on death sentences and executions, published in May 2026 and cited by Manassa.
Digital readiness, not just legal text
Much of the government's own framing of the law has centred on technology rather than substance. In August, authorities said implementation depended on an "integrated electronic system for managing proceedings before criminal courts" under a Unified Digital Justice Strategy, including a data-sharing platform linking the Justice Ministry with other judicial bodies, according to Daily News Egypt. Officials also pointed to the "City of Justice" project under construction in the New Administrative Capital as part of the same modernisation drive, the newspaper reported.
That framing, announced in August, assumed the law would still take effect on October 1, 2026, about six weeks before parliament reversed course and pushed the date back a further year, underscoring how late the readiness problems were acknowledged.
Frequently asked questions
When will Egypt's new Criminal Procedure Law now take effect?
On October 1, 2027, after parliament approved a one-year delay from the original October 1, 2026 date, according to Daily News Egypt.
Why was it delayed?
Officials cited unfinished work on electronic case-management and notification systems, database links between judicial bodies, and training for judges, prosecutors and police, according to Daily News Egypt.
What does the new law change?
It is Egypt's first overhaul of criminal procedure since 1950. It shortens maximum pretrial detention periods and gives prosecutors new powers to monitor suspects' communications and devices with a court order, according to The National, and expands the alternatives to pretrial detention, according to Manassa.
What are rights groups asking for during the delay?
Campaigners including the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms want the extra year used to add safeguards in death-penalty cases, such as guaranteed notice of execution dates and a moratorium on new death sentences, according to Manassa.
