CAIRO, Jan 17 (Aswat Masriya) - Parliament's legislative committee passed amendment on the protest law in its meeting on Tuesday.

The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) said in last December that article 10 of the protest law is unconstitutional. The article tackles the authority of interior ministry in blocking protests. The court also decided to terminate the second part of the same article.

The new amendment states that "interior minister, or the specialised security personnel are required to send a notification to the urgent matters judge in case there was a significant evidence of violence or potential security turbulence during a protest or an assembly."

Earlier, the article used to give the interior ministry the full authority to ban the protest if they suspected potential violence, without having to refer to a third party.The new bill was earlier presented by the cabinet to amend article 10 of the protest law; issued in 2013.

Head of the committee Bahaa Al-Dine Abou Shouka said that the bill falls in line with the verdict issued by the SCC last December.

"There is now a guarantee for the right of peaceful protesting, and a harmony has been created between citizens and executive power when it comes to protesting," he said.

The bill is yet to be issued for public voting in the parliament's general assembly.

In November 2013, interim president Adly Mansour issued the protest law which cause widespread controversy. 

The law urges sending prior notification to the interior ministry three working days ahead of the protest date. Penalties reach five years of imprisonment.

Rights lawyers filed in September 2014 lawsuit appealing articles 8 and 10 of the protest law, and suggested several amendments to the law in its current format.

In October 2016, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi vowed during youth conference in Sharm Al-Sheikh to coordinate with relevant state authorities to study the suggestions and proposals to amend the protest law.