In order to establish an efficient complaint processing and settling system in Egypt, the Cabinet issued Decree No. 1855/2017.

By virtue of this Decree, the service offices competent to receive, register and settle citizens’ complaints are now unified and connected by a website www.shakwa.com (‘shakwa’ is ‘complaint’ in Arabic). Further, the Decree provides for the establishment of several committees, units and sectors, ensuring the enforceability and implementation of the provisions of the Decree within all governmental authorities in Egypt.

What Does the Decree Do?

Instruments provided under the Decree:

• create a unified venue for registering complaints and queries of the citizens who solicit the services of the service offices;
• identify common complaints and find solutions to the citizens’ complaints;
• conduct research on news published in newspapers and magazines regarding the problems faced by citizens; and
• prepare reports on the performance of the service offices to the director of the service offices while providing recommendations on enhancing such performance.

The Decree sets the following obligations on all governmental authorities in order to ensure that the newly enhanced service is accessible:

• Connecting all governmental service offices through the website;
• Facilitating the communication of the citizens’ complaints to the relevant officers who are competent to process, deal with and settle the complaints;
• Ensuring the confidentiality of the citizens’ data and the content of their complaints;
• Guaranteeing to keep the complaining citizens safe from potential negative implications of having filed the complaint; and
• Keeping the physical offices open to those unable to register on the website.

How Can We Help?

Our team of experts would be delighted to assist you particularly in relation to the following:

• Helping our clients draft their complaints and queries addressed to any governmental authority;
• Following-up on such complaints and holding discussions with the relevant governmental offices, in light of the content of the complaints; and
• Providing legal advice regarding the standards and the documents required for the submission of a complaint through the designated website.

Should you wish to learn more about the Shakwa System, please contact Ayman Sherif Nour, Partner, Head of Office – Egypt and Farah El Nahas, Associate, Corporate Structuring.