Egypt
The Egyptian legal system is a civil law system and is based upon a system of codified laws. The Egyptian Civil Code combines Shari’a law ("Islamic Religious Law") and Napoleonic Code (which forms the basis of the French Civil Code). Many civil codes of other Middle Eastern countries have modelled their legal system on the Egyptian Civil Code.
There is no established system of binding precedents in the Egyptian courts; previous judicial decisions do, however, have persuasive authority. In practice, the lower courts find themselves both morally and practically bound by the principles and precedents of the higher courts.
In many civil law jurisdictions in the region, including Egypt, the concepts of legal professional privilege and "without prejudice" communications do not exist per se. The parties therefore have the right to use any document which may support their position. Lawyers in Egypt, however, will be bound by duties of confidentiality; these duties in many cases incorporate concepts similar to legal professional privilege.
The common law concept of standard disclosure is not available in Egypt, which helps to protect internal confidential documents. A party can however request the court to order disclosure of a specific document, if it can be shown that the document in question is material and relevant to the dispute.