Egypt's judges suspend courts over dispute with lawyers

Egypt's judges are to stay away from the country's courtrooms starting from Saturday in a mounting dispute with lawyers, the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported online.

"This move will be maintained until the state authorities play their role in protecting the judges so that they can undertake their mission," the paper quoted the Judges' Club, Egypt's judicial union, as saying in a statement, DPA repoted.

The judges accused lawyers of having blocked work in courtrooms over the past few days.

The lawyers are critical of a bill, which they say is being drafted by the Judges' Club, to toughen penalties against them in cases of contempt of court.

Hundreds of Egyptian lawyers, who have begun an open-ended strike, plan Saturday a march to the headquarters of the ruling military council in Cairo to demand the bill be dropped, according to the local media.