Egypt’s Supreme Court delays ruling on legality of Constituent Assembly

The Egyptian Supreme Court has delayed its ruling over the legality of the state’s Constituent Assembly as thousands rally in support of President Mohamed Morsi in the capital, Cairo, state media report.

The high court, which was due to examine the legality of the body in charge of writing the constitution as well as the Shura Council (Egypt’s upper house of parliament) on Sunday, postponed the session and did not announce when it would hold it again.

The decision was made after thousands of protesters thronged outside the court, preventing the judges from holding the session.

The protesters supported Morsi’s constitutional declaration and draft constitution and called for the dissolution of the Supreme Court.

Under the new constitutional declaration, described by Morsi as temporary, all laws and decrees issued by Morsi are final and unchallengeable.

On Saturday, the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Constituent Assembly presented the final draft of the constitution to Morsi after it finished the draft on Friday.

The president announced that a referendum on the new constitution will be held on December 15.

Thousands of pro-Morsi demonstrators, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, gathered outside Cairo University on Saturday, waving Egyptian flags to show support for the incumbent president and the contested constitution.

The pro-Morsi demonstration in the Egyptian capital comes one day after thousands of Morsi opponents converged on Tahrir Square to protest against the president’s decree and the speedy adoption of the draft constitution.

Morsi’s opponents staged at Tahrir Square on Friday to protest against the decree giving the president expanded powers and to express their opposition to the draft constitution.

The Egyptians launched a revolution against the regime of Hosni Mubarak in January 2011, putting an end to his 30-year dictatorship in February 2011.