Egypt

Egypt became independent of UK protectorate status in 1922 and a Republic was declared on 18 June 1953.

Following the resignation of President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, headed by Defence Minister Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, assumed control of the government.

Egypt has a mixed legal system based on Napoleonic civil law and Islamic religious law.

Egypt's Constitution of 1971 was suspended by the military government on 13 February 2011 and a new provisional constitution adopted on 30 March 2011.

Presidential elections were held in June 2012, and were won by Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi removed Morsi from office in a coup d'état after the protests  in June 2013, and was elected President in May 2014. 

The provisional constitution of 2011 provided that every citizen who is arrested or detained must be treated in a way that preserves his or her human dignity; and that the law must determine the period for which one may be detained.The Egyptian Constitution of 2014 was passed in a referendum in January 2014; similar provisions appear in this Constitution. 

A selection of the laws of Egypt are published by the Egyptian government in English here.