Without Waiting for the Ordinary General Assembly: State Council Compels the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to Call Elections for Tourist Guides

The General Assembly of the Departments of Fatwa and Legislation at the State Council, in its Legal Opinion No. 1138 dated 28 October 2025, concerning File No. 58/1/868, concluded that the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities is legally obligated to implement the judgment issued by the Administrative Judiciary Court in Case No. 58505/76J by calling for elections for tourist guides—without waiting for the scheduled date of convening the Ordinary General Assembly of the Syndicate.

The General Assembly explained in its opinion that upon initiating implementation of the judgment, a disagreement arose regarding the manner of execution. One viewpoint held that implementation required waiting for the legally designated date of the Ordinary General Assembly in March of each year so that the Assembly could exercise its competence to elect the Syndicate Council. Another viewpoint held that execution of the judgment required immediate convening of the General Assembly without waiting for the statutory date. The matter was therefore referred to the General Assembly for authoritative resolution.

The opinion further clarified that, according to the judgment’s reasoning—which is inseparably linked to its operative part and therefore has the same binding legal effect—the temporary committee assigned to administer the affairs of the Tourist Guides Syndicate was required to call the General Assembly to elect a new Council within six months of the issuance of Ministerial Resolution No. 95 of 2019 forming the committee, in accordance with the explicit terms of that resolution and its subsequent extensions. The committee, however, failed to do so.

Accordingly, the court annulled the challenged administrative decision, with all resulting legal consequences, foremost of which is obligating the temporary committee to take all measures prescribed under the Law of the Tourist Guides Syndicate to call the General Assembly to elect a new Council—chairperson and members—and to open the candidacy process. The committee must therefore immediately and fully implement the judgment, in deference to the binding force of res judicata, which prevails even over considerations of public order, by calling the General Assembly to convene for elections without waiting for the statutory date of the Ordinary General Assembly.

The opinion also confirmed that there is no legal justification for waiting until March—the statutory month for convening the Ordinary General Assembly—because the legislator expressly provided for the convening of an Extraordinary General Assembly in specific situations: upon the request of at least 100 members, or whenever the Syndicate Council deems it necessary. The Extraordinary Assembly is vested with the full powers of the Ordinary Assembly, in addition to considering the matters for which it is convened. Therefore, the judgment under review must be implemented immediately, without delay or reliance on the date of the Ordinary Assembly, in respect of the binding force the judgment has acquired, which supersedes all other considerations.

It is noted that on 15 July 2015, the General Council of the Tourist Guides Syndicate was elected for the 2015–2018 term, which ended on 14 July 2018. A General Assembly was then called to elect a new council for the 2018–2021 term on 24 August 2018; however, the legal quorum was not achieved. A second session was held seven days later, but the required quorum—attendance of one-quarter of the members—was again not met. Consequently, the outgoing council continued exercising its functions.

Subsequently, Ministerial Resolution No. 95 of 17 February 2019 was issued, forming a temporary committee to manage the affairs of the Syndicate. Article Two of the resolution mandated the committee to call the General Assembly to elect the chairperson and council members, and to manage the Syndicate’s affairs for six months or until a new council is elected, whichever occurs first. Several subsequent resolutions extended the committee’s mandate in successive six-month intervals.

The committee—formed by administrative decision and inaccurately described as “temporary”—continued operating for a period exceeding the legal electoral term of elected councils. This effectively deprived the General Assembly of its statutory powers and contravened constitutional principles relating to the independence of professional syndicates.

Tourist guides repeatedly requested that the committee call for syndicate elections; however, the committee refused, providing reasons that were neither logical nor legally grounded. Consequently, 537 tourist guides submitted a signed request demanding that the committee convene a General Assembly, with elections for the chairperson and council seats included on the agenda.

Based on this, a lawsuit was filed, resulting in the court judgment issued on Sunday, 25 February 2024, annulling the negative administrative decision to refrain from calling elections for the General Syndicate of Tourist Guides in Case No. 58505/76J, brought by a lawyer from the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights on behalf of several guides.

Furthermore, on Monday, 3 June 2024, the First Chamber for Appeals Review at the Supreme Administrative Court rejected Appeal No. 31109/70J, filed by the head of the committee managing the Syndicate, and upheld the judgment issued in Case No. 58505/76J annulling the negative decision to abstain from calling the General Assembly to convene for the purpose of electing a new syndicate council.