Region

Jurisdiction

Regulator

2002-01-01

Law No. 84 of 2002 on Associations and Civil Institutions

The Egyptian government, through Law No. 84 of 2002, establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for the establishment, operation, and oversight of associations and civil institutions. The law mandates a sixty-day automatic registration process for qualifying groups, prohibits secret organizations and politically or commercially profit-driven activities, and grants participating entities significant tax, stamp duty, and customs exemptions. It further creates administrative dispute resolution committees, outlines strict membership and statute requirements, and repeals previous association laws to standardize civil society operations under centralized government supervision.

Egypt

Financial Regulatory Authority Egypt

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

Law No. 84 of 2002

Issuing the Law on Associations and Civil Institutions

By the Name of the People

The President of the Republic

The People's Assembly has decided the following law, which we hereby issue:

(Article One)

Without prejudice to the regulations governing associations established by law or based on international agreements concluded by the Arab Republic of Egypt, the provisions of the accompanying law shall apply to associations and civil institutions.

Foreign non-governmental organizations may be authorized to conduct the activities of associations and civil institutions subject to the provisions of the aforementioned law, in accordance with the rules stipulated therein. Such authorization shall be issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs based on an agreement concluded between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and these organizations.

(Article Two)

Without prejudice to the provisions of Law Decree No. 91 of 1971, the administrative authority for the application of the accompanying law shall be the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the competent court shall be the Administrative Court within whose jurisdiction the center of administration of the association, civil institution, or general, specialized, or regional union is located, as applicable.

(Article Three)

Courts shall, on their own initiative and without charge, refer any lawsuits or appeals pending before them that have become under the jurisdiction of administrative courts pursuant to the provisions of this law, in their current state. In the absence of one of the parties, the court clerk shall notify them of the referral order and summon them to appear before the court to which the lawsuit was referred within the specified timeframe.

(Article Four)

Associations, private institutions, and specialized and regional unions established under the accompanying law whose statutes conflict with its provisions shall amend their statutes and align their status accordingly within one year from the date of implementation of this law.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

The provision of the preceding paragraph shall also apply to branches of private associations and institutions, subject to the approval of the parent association or institution.

Any group whose objectives include or that conducts any activities of the aforementioned associations and institutions—even if it adopts a legal form other than that of associations and institutions—shall adopt the form of an association or civil institution, amend its basic statute, and submit a registration request in accordance with the accompanying law within the period stipulated in the first paragraph of this article; otherwise, it shall be deemed dissolved by operation of law. In such a case, the provisions of Chapter Four of Part One of the accompanying law shall apply.

It is prohibited for any private entity to conduct any activity falling within the objectives of associations and civil institutions without adopting the form of an association or civil institution in accordance with the accompanying law.

(Article Five)

The boards of directors of existing private associations, institutions, and specialized and regional unions, along with their executive and administrative bodies, shall continue to exercise their functions until they are reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of the accompanying law.

(Article Six)

The Minister of Social Affairs shall issue the executive regulations for the accompanying law within six months from the date of its implementation. Until these regulations are issued, the existing regulations and decisions in effect on the date of implementation of the accompanying law shall continue to apply to the extent they do not conflict with its provisions.

(Article Seven)

Law No. 32 of 1964 on Associations and Private Institutions, and Law No. 153 of 1999 on Associations and Civil Institutions are hereby repealed, along with any provision that conflicts with the provisions of the accompanying law.

(Article Eight)

This law shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall take effect on the day following its publication.

This law shall be sealed with the State seal and enforced as one of its laws.

Issued at the Presidency of the Republic on 24 Rabi' al-Awwal 1423 AH (Corresponding to 5 June 2002 AD)

Hosni Mubarak

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

Law on Associations and Civil Institutions

Part One

Associations

Chapter One

Establishment of Associations

Article 1 - For the purposes of this law, an association shall be considered any group with a continuous organization for a fixed or indefinite period, composed of natural persons, legal entities, or both, with a minimum of ten members in all cases, for a purpose other than obtaining material profit.

Article 2 - The establishment of an association requires a written basic statute signed by the founders and an appropriate administrative headquarters located within the Arab Republic of Egypt. No person who has been issued a final judgment convicting them of a felony, or a penalty restricting liberty for a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or breach of trust, may participate in founding an association, unless their reputation has been restored. Non-Egyptians may participate in the membership of an association in accordance with the rules set forth in the executive regulations of this law.

Article 3 - The basic statute of the association must include the following information:

(a) The name of the association, which must be derived from its purpose and not misleadingly similar to another association operating in the same geographical scope.

(b) The type, field, and activities of the association, and its geographical scope of operation.

(d) The name, title, age, gender, profession, and place of residence of each founding member.

(e) The association's sources of income, their utilization, and expenditure procedures.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

(f) The association's representative bodies, the jurisdiction of each, the method of selecting their members, and the procedures for their dismissal, revocation, or invalidation of membership, as well as the quorum required for the validity of their meetings and decisions.

(g) The membership system, its conditions, members' rights and obligations, particularly each member's right to access association documents, attend the general assembly, and vote therein.

(h) The financial monitoring system.

(i) Rules for amending the basic statute, establishing branches, circumstances of the association's dissolution, and the entities to which its assets shall be transferred in such cases.

(j) Designation of the authority responsible for requesting the association's public benefit status.

(k) Designation of the representative of the founding group responsible for taking establishment procedures.

A model basic statute may be attached to the executive regulations of this law, which associations may follow.

Article 4 - The basic statute of the association shall not stipulate the distribution of its assets upon dissolution, except to the Fund for Granting Associations and Civil Institutions, or to one of the associations, civil institutions, or unions subject to the provisions of this law.

Article 5 - A summary of the association's basic statute must be prepared on the designated form, accompanied by the following documents:

Two copies of the association's basic statute signed by all founders.
A declaration from each founding member confirming compliance with the conditions stipulated in Article (2) and the data specified in paragraph (d) of Article (3) of this law.
Proof of occupancy of the association's headquarters.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

The administrative authority shall record the submission date of the registration request on a copy handed to the applicant, along with entering it into a special register maintained by the authority.

The executive regulations of this law shall specify the procedures for submitting the request and the fee payable for registering the association's statute in the special register, not exceeding one hundred Egyptian pounds, the proceeds of which shall go to the Fund for Granting Associations and Civil Institutions. A model registration request form shall be attached to the regulations.

Article 6 - The administrative authority shall register the summary of the association's basic statute in the special register within sixty days from the date the founding group submits the registration request accompanied by the documents referred to in Article (5) of this law. If sixty days elapse without completion, the registration shall be deemed legally effected.

The legal personality of the association is established upon registration or upon the expiration of sixty days from the submission of a complete registration request by the founding group, whichever is earlier.

If the administrative authority determines within the aforementioned sixty days that the association's objectives include an activity prohibited by Article (11) of this law, it shall reject the registration request with a reasoned decision, notifying the founding group via registered mail with return receipt within the sixty-day period specified in the preceding paragraph.

The founding group shall have the right to appeal this decision before the competent court within sixty days from the date of notification, according to the prescribed procedures.

The administrative authority shall take steps to publish the summary of the association's basic statute in the Official Gazette within sixty days from the date the association's legal personality is established, free of charge.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

Article 7 - One or more committees shall be established within each governorate by a decision of the Minister of Justice, chaired by a counselor (at least) from the Court of Appeals nominated by the general assembly to the court, and comprising:

A representative of the administrative authority nominated by the Minister of Social Affairs.
A representative of the regional union nominated by the board of directors of the General Union of Associations. The committee shall also include a representative of the concerned association, which is a party to the dispute, nominated by its general assembly or board of directors.

The committee shall be competent to examine disputes arising between the association and the administrative authority and settle them amicably.

The committee shall not be validly constituted unless its chairperson and a representative of each disputing party are present. It shall issue its decision within sixty days from the date the dispute is referred to it, by majority vote. In case of a tie, the chairperson's vote shall prevail. The executive regulations of this law shall specify other rules and procedures for the committee's work.

The committee's decision shall be binding and enforceable if accepted by both disputing parties.

A lawsuit regarding the dispute shall not be admissible before the competent court unless a decision has been issued by the committee, or unless the sixty-day period has elapsed. The lawsuit must be filed within sixty days from the date of the decision or the expiration of that period, according to the prescribed procedures.

Article 8 - Without prejudice to the provision of the third paragraph of Article (6) of this law, the administrative authority may object to anything it deems contrary to the law in the association's basic statute or regarding the founders. This shall not prevent the authority from registering the association in the special register within the period specified in Article (6) of this law.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

If the administrative authority finds grounds for objection, it shall notify the association of the reasons via registered mail with return receipt. If the association fails to remove the grounds for objection within the timeframe set by the authority, the dispute shall be referred to the committee stipulated in the preceding article.

When filing a lawsuit regarding the objection before the competent court (adhering to the provisions of the last paragraph of Article (7) of this law), the administrative authority may request the court, on an expedited basis, to order the removal of the grounds of violation while allowing the association to continue its activities, or to temporarily suspend the association's activities pending a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit.

The administrative authority shall annotate the operative part of the court's decision in the margin of the association's registration in the special register.

Article 9 - Any interested party has the right to access the registered summary of the association's basic statute and obtain a certified copy upon payment of a fee determined by the executive regulations of this law, not exceeding twenty Egyptian pounds, the proceeds of which shall go to the Fund for Granting Associations and Civil Institutions.

Article 10 - The procedures prescribed in this chapter for the establishment of an association shall apply to any amendment of its basic statute.

Chapter Two

Objectives, Rights, and Obligations of Associations

Article 11 - Associations shall pursue their objectives in various fields for community development in accordance with the rules and procedures specified by law and the executive regulations. An association may, after obtaining the opinion of the relevant unions and the approval of the administrative authority, operate in more than one field.

The Official Gazette - No. 22 bis (A) on 5 June 2002

The establishment of secret associations is prohibited. It is also prohibited for an association's objectives to include conducting any of the following activities:

Forming military squads, battalions, or groups with a military character.
Threatening national unity, violating public order or morals, or calling for discrimination among citizens based on race, origin, color, religion, or creed.
Any political activity exclusively reserved for political parties under the Political Parties Law, or any union activity exclusively reserved for trade unions under the Trade Unions Laws.
Any activity aimed at achieving profit that contradicts the association's objectives.

Article 12 - Civil servants of the state may be seconded to work in associations to provide necessary assistance for carrying out their mission, upon the association's request.

The secondment shall be issued for a period of one year, renewable, by a ministerial decision at the minister's discretion.

Article 13 - Without prejudice to any benefits stipulated in other laws, associations subject to the provisions of this law shall enjoy the following benefits:

(a) Exemption from registration and recording fees incurred by the association in all types of contracts in which it is a party, such as property, mortgage, or other real rights contracts, as well as from fees for certifying signatures.

(b) Exemption from stamp taxes and fees currently imposed or to be imposed in the future on all contracts, powers of attorney, documents, printed papers, registers, etc.

(c) Exemption from customs duties and other fees imposed on equipment, machines, devices, tools, and production supplies imported by the association, as well as on gifts, donations, and aid received from abroad, by a decision of the Prime Minister, upon proposal by the Minister of Social Affairs and presentation by the Minister of Finance. The disposal of items designated for this purpose is prohibited.

Which shall be determined by a decision of the Minister of Social Affairs in coordination with the Minister of Finance, for a period of five years unless the applicable customs duties and fees are paid.