EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Farida Rezk, Omar Aboul-Ella, Mariam Rabie and Mohamed Selim, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
The Supreme Constitutional Court The Supreme Constitutional Court is an auton - omous and independent judicial body with its headquarters in Cairo. However, in cases of emergency, it may, upon the approval of its General Assembly, hold its sessions elsewhere in Egypt. The Supreme Constitutional Court is solely competent to decide on the constitution - ality of laws and regulations, interpret legislative provisions, and adjudicate on disputes pertain - ing to the affairs of its members, on jurisdictional disputes between judicial bodies and entities that have judicial jurisdiction, on disputes per - taining to the implementation of two final con - tradictory judgments, one of which is rendered by a judicial body or an authority with judicial jurisdiction and the other is rendered by another, as well as on disputes pertaining to the execu - tion of its judgments and decisions. The State Lawsuits Authority The State Lawsuits Authority is an Egyptian judicial institution that resembles, in respect of competencies, the Attorney General in common law disciplines and particularly the United States Solicitor General. The Authority represents the interests of the state in a variety of areas before national and international courts and arbitral tribunals. Under the applicable law, the Egyptian State Lawsuits Authority is granted the power to plead on behalf of the state even if the state itself does not wish to do so and vice versa. 2. Restrictions on Foreign Investments 2.1 Approval of Foreign Investments Foreign investments are subject to screening in Egypt based on specific criteria, including the
investor’s nationality and the company’s activi - ties, given that activities carried out by non- Egyptian investors, as well as the investor’s nationality, may be restricted by relevant Egyp - tian laws and may require certain conditions to be met. Therefore, screening must be performed to ensure the satisfaction of these conditions and requirements. It is worth noting that foreign ownership restrictions are applicable in several sectors and locations such as: • importation activities conducted for resale or trading purposes, noting, however, that these restrictions were recently relaxed – now permitting majority foreign ownership for a period of ten years, subject to renewal pursu - ant to certain conditions; • commercial agencies or intermediary busi - nesses; and • carrying out business in the Sinai Peninsula. It is worth noting that security clearance must be obtained for any foreigner to work or do busi - ness in Egypt. In practice, the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) usually approves changes in shareholding structures and the incorporation of companies without initially requiring a security clearance, with the exception of certain nationalities, such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Israel, Iran, Belarus, Bangladesh, Iraq and Palestine, as such restricted nationalities require an advance security clearance. However, GAFI has recently started to relax the conditions of obtaining secu - rity clearance prior to incorporation with respect to some nationalities. Aside from the security clearance, work permits must also be obtained for any foreign employees to be employed by the relevant company.
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