Institutional cooperation

Built on the proximity of the French and Egyptian legal systems and public service, the institutional, legal and administrative cooperation is historic and appreciated by both Egyptian and French institutions.

Judicial cooperation:

Egypt’s legal system draws heavily on the French legal model, including the Napoleonic Code. Egypt has therefore adopted a French-inspired judicial organization, in both the areas of public and private law.

The institutional cooperation, civil society and heritage sector supports cooperation between French and Egyptian legal institutions, the exchange of expertise between magistrates, as well as the training of prosecutors and judges of both countries. This sector fosters the strengthening of ties between Egyptian magistrates and prosecutors and their French counterparts through exchanges and trainings. This includes the judicial body (Ministry of Justice, Tribunals and Courts of Appeals, Court of Cassation, Prosecutor’s Office) as well as administrative courts (Council of State).

The sector also maintains close ties with the French École Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM – National School for the Judiciary). Each year, it funds over ten internship grants in France intended for Egyptian magistrates and prosecutors, such as follows:

• A grant to enter the initial 12-month training, comprising a 6-month schooling at the ENM in Bordeaux followed by 5 months of practical training in court. This long-term training enables
  the learning of new professional skills, soft skills and know-how, beyond the knowledge acquired at university.
• Ten grants for short-term trainings (from 3 days to 2 weeks) around specialized topics such as “Organized crime and legal cooperation” and “Corruption: detection, prevention, repression.”

The sector also facilitates the organization of a 3-week internship in Egypt for one French judicial assessor to discover the Egyptian legal and judicial system. This internship enables the French assessor to familiarize themselves with the functioning and competencies of different Egyptian legal institutions, as well as meet and exchange with Egyptian judges on topics of common interest.

Lastly, to help develop their proficiency in specialized and general French, master the legal discourse and acquire methodological legal skills, legal French courses are provided to members of various legal institutions (Council of State, Court of Cassation…) in connection with the IFE’s Department of Courses and Trainings. In this context, over ten 2-week linguistic internship grants are awarded to the best learners every year.

Administrative cooperation:

The training of civil servants and the exchange of expertise in the administrative field are some of the priorities in French-Egyptian cooperation. Within this framework, the support of the institutional cooperation, civil society and heritage sector translates into the allocation of grants to Egyptian senior officials to enroll in trainings at the Institut national du service public (INSP – National Institute for Public Service), which replaced the ENA (National School of Administration) as of January 1st, 2022. The sector also intervenes by supporting the project to create an ENA in Egypt, as well as through its fruitful collaboration with the Egyptian Institute for Diplomatic Studies, to contribute to the training of young diplomatic attachés.

Initial and continuing training at the INSP:

The sector offers Egyptian senior officials internship grants at the INSP, such as follows:

• An internship grant to follow the Long international Cycle (CIL, 14 months), intended for early career civil servants,
• An internship grant to follow the Advanced international Cycle (CIP, 8 months), geared toward more experienced civil servants,
• Over ten internship grants to enter specific trainings (2 to 3 weeks) on topics such as “Organization of parliamentary work” and “Fighting corruption.”

Like with the ENM’s trainings, recruitment for these trainings is conducted with the Egyptian ministries and institutions partners of the sector.

The ENA creation project in Egypt:

A project intended by the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, which led to the signing of an agreement between the ENA and the National Training Academy (NTA) during President Macron’s state visit to Egypt in January 2019.

Lasting for a two-year period (2019-2021), the institutional cooperation, civil society and heritage sector has established, in partnership with the INSP and NTA, a cooperation project funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. This project has enabled the training of 144 Egyptian senior officials in addition to the implementation of a partnership materialized by a new training offer for Egypt’s senior civil service. This training of an administrative elite that uses a practice-based methodology and implements ENA activities, which are adapted to the specificities of Egypt, is recognized by the Egyptian administration.

Being the first foreign country to cooperate with the NTA, France could, through the INSP, continue this partnership with the intervention of short-term experts within the NTA, in order to pursue the transfer of skills in a number of common areas to the Egyptian and French administration.

Partnership with the Institute for Diplomatic Studies (IED):

Responsible for the training of young diplomatic attachés newly recruited by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this sector has historic ties with the IED. In connection with the IFE’s Department of Courses and Trainings, a French-language linguistic training is provided to diplomatic attachés. Aimed at the development of specialized skills in the French language, this training enables participants to master the diplomatic discourse and acquire methodological skills in public administration and international relations.

This linguistic training is followed by a study visit in France, supported by this sector and organized through the INSP. This one-week visit allows the attachés to visit French and European institutions, benefit from conferences on topics of current interest, and discover French culture.