CAIRO — Egypt's State Council, the judicial body charged with examining the constitutionality of bills that are preliminarily approved by parliament, will finalize the review of a new bill on public shops by March 2 at the latest, and will send its report to parliament by the following day, according to a council source speaking to Al-Monitor. After  the report is issued a final vote on the law will be held in parliament. The new bill does not prohibit alcohol supply and consumption.

The Egyptian parliament had initially approved the new bill during its plenary session Jan. 13. The majority of parliamentarians, however, voted in favor of removing Article 28, which prohibits the supply and consumption of alcohol in public shops; it also bans gambling and engaging in any acts that are immoral or violate public ethics.

Upon this initial approval by a majority vote of members of parliament, parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal referred during the same session the bill to the State Council in order to obtain its legal and constitutional opinion. The council examines bills before their ratification by parliament, but its opinion remains advisory and not binding.

The removal of Article 28 sparked a storm of criticism on social media against the parliament. For many Egyptian social media activists, striking this article goes against the piousness of Egyptians. In accordance with the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, Islamic law is the main source of legislation. Some activists even described lifting this prohibition as encouragement by the parliament to consume alcohol. Gambling and immoral acts are already banned under other laws, most notably Egyptian Penal Code Article 325 and Article 278.