Egypt’s Church Construction Law (Law No. 80 of 2016) was approved by the House of Representatives on August 30, 2016, in implementation of Article 235 of the 2014 Egyptian Constitution. That article required the House, in its first term after the Constitution came into force, to issue a law organizing the building and renovation of churches. When the law was being discussed, however, it was rushed through the parliamentary process with little input from those it would actually impact. The law went into effect after President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi ratified it and it was published in the Official Gazette edition dated September 28, 2016. Although the Egyptian government celebrates the law as a beacon of inclusivity for the Christian community, the law furthers discrimination by subjecting Christians to a separate and unequal legal system.
