When a society suffers from political stagnation, politics begins to be practiced in places other than those it is supposed to be practiced in. And it has been years since the arenas of courts of law in Egypt have turned into political stages, as numerous political forces have entered into confrontations with the government which the halls of courts of law became places to settle or to activate. This took place throughout the years of religious violence, and also when political forces turned to the courts to obtain licenses to engage in political activity after the Political Parties Committee objected to their licensing. This also took place as an expression of the confrontation between the government and the Society of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the wake of campaigns targeting the group's leaders, major figures and activists. Moreover, politicians repeatedly turned to the courts in order to settle matters connected to conflicts that erupted within some political parties, and to struggles over leading positions within them, after the Political Parties Committee failed to settle them as well. All of this has taken place, is taking place and will continue to do so as long as the reasons which called for it remain. It is true that the judiciary was unified so that it may settle disputes, apply the law, grant their rights to those entitled them, and punish those who have committed violations and acts of perversion and corruption as well as those who break the law. Yet it is also true that numerous issues have erupted in the courts as a result of government stances or of the state taking certain measures and making certain decisions, which were explained as aimed at preventing competition against the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the political arena. And when the crisis of the Judges' Club emerged on the background of disputes among them, a great deal of criticism was directed at some judges, who would put forward political views in the press and on satellite television, all of them regarding political reform, freedoms, constitutional amendments and some laws specific to the exercise of politics. At the time, government political circles spoke of laws that forbade judges from engaging in politics, considering their expressing their views in the media in any way to be a political act. Egyptians have been following all of this for years, and have been able to adapt their situation to its implications without considering Egyptian society itself to be threatened, or considering that their interests could suffer an injury when they cannot bear anymore problems. Yet over the past three years, the issue has become aggravated and people have begun to resort to the courts in “matters great and small”. There were court rulings that caused uproar, led to violations, generated problems and harmed the interests of ordinary citizens, to the point where it became a distinct phenomenon. Thus, a Copt faced with the decision of the Church to forbid remarriage for Copts would turn to the courts and obtain a ruling that threatens the rules which the Church has abided by for many long years; the president of a sports club affected by the results of its board of administration would obtain a ruling that overthrows the government-supported board; and a citizen detecting an act of corruption in a measure taken by the government would file a lawsuit and obtain a ruling that would have implications for others who have nothing to do with the government. Those are just examples of the political situation in Egypt after the government has lost the ability to settle many issues and after citizens have found the channels between them and their government to have widened, finding only the courts as a refuge to do them justice, after having seen their government unable to defend decisions it had taken. On the whole, the issue requires to be decisively resolved, or else Egyptian society would be threatened with ails far exceeding those it now suffers from. Indeed, confusion has come to prevail and it will not stop there; and the road to the courts has become much easier than the road to the government.
