The Arab Spring 

Biography

Dr Mohamed Elewa Badar is a former Chief Judge for the Egyptian Ministry of Justice (2001-2006). During July-September 2011 he was appointed to work as a Senior Investigator to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate various human rights abuses and to examine the causes of an estimated 36 deaths during the unrest in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as allegations of disappearances, unlawful arrests and detention, torture and other forms of mistreatment. In 2008-2009, Dr Badar worked as an international expert for the United Nations Interregional Crimes and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and in 2010 he was selected to work as an expert for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on the Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice. During 2004-2005 he worked as a Resident Representative of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) (Siracusa-Italy) for the Interim Training for the Afghan Judiciary, Kabul, Afghanistan, where he lectured the Afghan magistrates on issues related to international human rights law, comparative criminal justice systems and Islamic law. In Year 2003 he had a position to work for six month period as an Intern with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Office of the Prosecutor/Appeals Section. He worked as a Senior Prosecutor at the Public Prosecution Office, Egypt, for several years (1997-2001). Prior to assuming these positions at the Ministry of Justice, he was a Police Captain at the Ministry of Interior - Public Property Investigation General Dept. (1991-1997). Dr Badar holds a PhD in international criminal law and LL.M. in international human rights (first class honours) from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway. He also holds a Diploma in international legal relations from Ain Shams University, Egypt. He received his first University degree – Bachelors of Law and Police Sciences – from the Police College, Police Academy, Egypt.

Abstract

The Arab Spring has witnessed popular uprisings against despotic regimes which have captured the imagination of the world. One of the main concerns from the outside observers, however, has been a potential islamisation of the region once the old regimes have fallen. I shall discuss this matter using the drafting of the Egyptian constitution as a case study, and provide a critique of potential outcomes drawing a conclusion from the experiences of other countries who in some way or another use Sharia Law as (a source of) domestic law.