Section Two
Advisory opinions submitted by the National Institution for
Human Rights to the Council of Representatives
The NIHR submitted to the Council of Representatives during the reporting period a total of five
advisory opinions(11), as follows:
First: Proposed law amending some provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law promulgated
by Decree-Law No. (46) of 2002, accompanying Decree No. (21) of 2019
1. The NIHR expressed its advisory opinion on a proposed law amending some provisions of the
Criminal Procedure Law promulgated by Decree-Law No. (46) of 2002, accompanying Decree
No. (21) of 2019, which consists of five articles, in addition to the preamble.
2. The first article thereof proposes to replace the provisions of Article (82) the third paragraph,
Article (93) the first paragraph, Article (127-bis) the first paragraph, Articles (159), (273), (274),
and (277) the first paragraphs, and Article (327) the first paragraph. The second article, replaces
the title of Part One of Book Six (Procedures to be followed in case of loss of documents and
judgments and calculation of periods) of the Law under study, with the title (Procedures to be
followed in case of loss of papers and judgments and calculation of periods, and the use of
electronic means). The third article adds a fourth paragraph to Article (18), a third paragraph
to Article (218), a fourth paragraph to Article (227), and a second paragraph to Article (321)
of the law subject to amendment. The fourth article includes adding new articles No. (21-bis),
No. (21- bis) (a), No. (21- bis) (b), No. (226-bis), No. (280- bis), and No. (411-bis) to the
Criminal Procedure Law promulgated by Decree Law No. (46) of 2002.The fifth article is an
executive article.
3. Paragraph Three of Article (82) of the proposed law stipulates that, “However, the Public
Prosecution may take video and audio recordings of the proceedings and course of the
investigation; if a witness or an accused is not able to attend, the Public Prosecution
may resort to using technical means and picture and sound transmission devices in
hearing his/her statements or interrogating him/her remotely, and presenting and
viewing these proceedings for the purposes of the investigation, subject to the legally
prescribed guarantees.” The NIHR concluded that it agrees in principle with the provision of
the second paragraph of Article (82) as stated in the proposed law, which provided for using
modern technical means and picture and sound transmission devices in hearing and interrogating
the accused, as this procedure leads to the desired justice promptly and without undue delay.
The NIHR emphasized that it is crucial that the same provision explicitly provides for legal
(11) The National Institution for Human Rights has submitted its advisory opinion on the rights of the elderly to enjoy an adequate and decent standard of living to the Ministry
of Housing, the Council of Representatives, and the Shura Council. To prevent repetition, the advisory opinion is contained in Section Three of this report on the advisory
opinions submitted by the NIHR to the government.
52