State Commissioners Authority Recommends Reinstatement of Suspended Pension Benefits for Women Journalists

In its report submitted to the Supreme Administrative Court, the State Commissioners Authority recommended that several women journalists who challenged a decision issued by the Chairperson of the National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI) are legally entitled to the reinstatement of their suspended survivors’ pensions. The contested decision had suspended their pension benefits on the grounds that they were registered on the Active Journalists Register of the Journalists Syndicate, arguing that receipt of such pensions is incompatible with membership on the Register. The Authority recommended that the journalists’ lawfully due pension benefits be reinstated retroactively from the date on which payment was suspended.

The report relied on the provisions of Social Insurance Law No. 79 of 1975, which expressly sets forth the eligibility criteria governing children’s entitlement to survivors’ pensions following the death of their parents. Under the Law, an unmarried daughter is entitled to receive a survivors’ pension. The report further noted that the case file contained no evidence establishing that the claimant had practiced a non-commercial profession regulated by law or executive regulation for a continuous period exceeding five years. Nor had the administrative authority produced any evidence demonstrating that she had engaged in either commercial or non-commercial employment.

The report also relied on the response submitted by the Journalists Syndicate, which confirmed that the Active Journalists Register is one of the registers established pursuant to Article 1 of Law No. 76 of 1970 Establishing the Journalists Syndicate. The Syndicate explained that registration on the Active Journalists Register does not, in and of itself, necessarily mean that a journalist receives wages or a monthly salary. Rather, eligibility for registration is governed by Articles 7, 8, and 9 of Law No. 76 of 1970. The Syndicate further clarified that continued registration on the Register is not contingent upon continued employment, particularly in light of the closure of a significant number of privately owned and party-affiliated newspaper institutions. Accordingly, the claimant’s request for payment of the survivors’ pension due in respect of her deceased father from the National Organization for Social Insurance, effective from the date of its suspension, is well founded in law. The report therefore concluded that the appellant is entitled to the reinstatement of her father’s pension as of the date of its suspension, together with all legal consequences arising therefrom.

Previously, the National Organization for Social Insurance had issued a decision suspending the pension benefits of several women journalists. The Organization based its decision on Article 2 of Social Insurance Law No. 148 of 2019, as amended, which classifies members of professional syndicates as self-employed professionals, as well as Article 103 of the same Law, which specifies the circumstances under which pension payments may be suspended. The decision also relied on Articles 271, 272, 273, 274, and 277 of the Executive Regulations of the Social Insurance Law.

The lawsuit argued that the practical realities of the journalism profession differ fundamentally from those of other professional syndicates. Mere registration on the Active Journalists Register does not necessarily entitle a journalist to remuneration. Rather, receiving remuneration requires entering into an employment contract with a newspaper or one of its affiliated publications. Where a newspaper ceases operations or an employment contract is terminated for any reason, the journalist loses their source of livelihood and must seek alternative employment in order to earn an income through the practice of the profession. Such circumstances, however, do not automatically require transferring the journalist from the Active Journalists Register to the Non-Practicing Journalists Register, as doing so would jeopardize the journalist’s entitlement to claim the pension provided by the Syndicate. The lawsuit therefore argued that a clear conflict exists between the provisions of the Social Insurance Law and its Executive Regulations, on the one hand, and the Law Establishing the Journalists Syndicate, which governs the journalism profession, on the other, resulting in an apparent violation of the Constitution.

The statement of claim further raised a constitutional challenge to Paragraph (4) of Section Two of Article 2 of Social Insurance Law No. 148 of 2019, insofar as it includes the phrase “members of professional syndicates,” as well as to Paragraph (2) of Article 103 of the same Law and Articles 271, 272, 273, 274, and 277 of the Executive Regulations of the Social Insurance Law, promulgated by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2437 of 2021.

The statement of claim asserted that these statutory and regulatory provisions violate Articles 8, 17, 76, 77, and 94 of the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt (2014), as amended. It argued that the Egyptian legislature has consistently sought to establish comprehensive safeguards designed to ensure social solidarity throughout society and to guarantee access to social insurance benefits.

The statement of claim further maintained that the Egyptian Constitution guarantees every citizen who is not covered by the social insurance system the right to social security. It also affirms the independence of professional syndicates and provides that their governance, membership registration procedures, and disciplinary accountability shall be regulated by law.