16 Official Gazette – Issue No. 9 (bis) March 1, 2015 Whereas, according to Article (94) of the Constitution, the State shall exercise the powers thereof, regardless of the functions of purposes thereof, under the rule of law and shall be put back on the right track if it ever flouts the law. The legal rules constituting the framework of the State and the limits out of which it may never deviate shall be interpreted in light of the democratic principles on which the system of governance is based, according to Articles (1), (4), and (5) of the Constitution. Whereas the power used by the legislator to regulate the rights enshrined in the Constitution is a discretionary power in the first place, since the legislator compares between different available alternatives in connection with the subject-matter that needs to be regulated and selects the alternative that can best meet the desired outcomes and serve the most significant interest. In exercising such power, the legislator is governed by no authority but the controls enshrined in the Constitution in this regard. Furthermore, in this context, the legislator is not required to stick to rigid forms that cannot be altered or changed. Rather, it is left to the discretion of the legislator to compare between different available forms to use the one that best suits each situation, in light of the circumstances under which the right in question is exercised and in a manner ensuring that such right is not lost. Whereas, according to Constitutional Article (9), “the State shall ensure equal opportunities for all citizens without discrimination”, knowing that the State can only ensure that citizens have equal opportunities when it determines those worthy of such opportunities and prioritizes them according to objective criteria laid down based on the nature, objectives, and requirements of such rights so that all citizens could have equal opportunities and be equal before the law since such rights shall grant them similar legal statuses in light of which the criteria defining which citizens are eligible to have such opportunities are determined. Hence, when a citizen is proven worthy of a certain right according to the outlined criteria, such citizen shall receive the same treatment received by those enjoying the same legal status since any discrimination shall, then, constitute an attempt to deprive such citizen from a right established by the Constitution. Whereas the principle of equality before the law shall apply to all citizens without discrimination since it is the basis of justice, freedom, and social peace and since it mainly aims at protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens against all forms of discrimination. This principle, in essence, has become a tool used to ensure fair legal protection that goes beyond the Constitutional rights and freedoms and extends to include the rights granted by the legislator to citizens within the limits of the legislator’s discretionary power and in light of what the legislator deems as necessary for the greater good. Whereas the forms of discrimination violating the Constitution, as countless as they are, can be defined as any kind of segregation, limitation, favoritism, or exclusion that arbitrarily deprives someone of their rights and freedoms established by the Constitution or law, whether through denying, suspending, or undermining them in a way that prevents the holders of such rights from exercising them on an equal basis with other eligible citizens. Therefore, while the Constitution bans any form of arbitral discrimination, all legislative regulations aim at fulfilling certain legitimate purposes that serve the greater good, which is the ultimate aim of the legislator who uses the legal rules as a ladder to reach that aim. Whereas such regulation uphold, rather than undermine, the principle of equality through introducing legislative regulations linking certain legal provisions to the desired

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