- Cooperation protocol between the Center for Memory and Knowledge Studies and the Journalists Syndicate to enhance legal knowledge of journalists and media professionals

- The first phase includes indexing and providing decisions of the Supreme Courts and laws related to the press and media in Egypt

Cairo, 16 March 2025

Within the framework of the efforts of the Center for Memory and Knowledge Studies to support journalists and enhance their legal knowledge, Emad Mubarak, Executive Director of the Center, and Khaled Al-Balshy, head of the Journalists Syndicate, signed a cooperation protocol with the aim of providing accurate legal sources for journalists and media workers through the collection, indexing and classification of relevant legal documents.

The protocol, which was signed at the headquarters of the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo, includes the Memory and Knowledge Center's provision of laws and legislation regulating journalistic and media work, in addition to the rulings of the Supreme Courts, namely the Supreme Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, and the Court of Cassation, issued between 1990 and 2020, related to the press and media, and the preparation of a user friendly electronic database for journalists and researchers to be linked to the new Journalists Syndicate website. It includes classifying these documents according to their legal topics such as freedom of the press, publishing and media legislation, which facilitates the search process, provided that these documents are accessible to search by text, and any part of them can be copied easily and in written, rather than image form. This provides journalists with a comprehensive legal database that helps them understand the legal frameworks regulating their profession. 

Khaled Elbalshy said that this agreement is trying to make judicial rulings and laws related to matters of the press in general available to colleagues, whether for use or printing, which is a valuable resource that a large number of journalists do not have; in addition to a component related to training colleagues on legal writing.   

The head of the Journalists Syndicate pointed out that the cooperation comes within the framework of the Syndicate's endeavor to communicate and cooperate with research centers that can provide services to facilitate the work of the press community, that this cooperation will not stop at its first stage by providing documents between 1990 to 2020, and that the following stages will seek to provide these those resources for periods preceding 1990, so that the Syndicate would ultimately have a complete archive of legal documents and documents related to the press.

Emad Mubarak said that this cooperation reflects the Center's commitment to supporting journalists by facilitating their access to reliable legal information, which enables them to practice their work according to clear legal references, and helps them deal with the legal challenges they may face during the performance of their journalistic duties. The center also aims to submit periodic reports to the syndicate on legal developments affecting the profession within the terms of this cooperation.

Mubarak added that the protocol is for a renewable five-year period, and therefore limiting legal documents to the period between 1990 and 2020, is only a first stage to be followed by working on documents of the following ten years, provided that the ultimate goal is to provide all documents related to the media and press, in a written format that can be easily searched for, accessed and used.

This cooperation is a new step within the Center's efforts within its project of documenting, indexing and classifying legal documents issued over a period of 30 years.