A Cairo court on Saturday set December 26 as the date for a decision over whether to replace the presiding judge in the trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak, DPA reported.
Some of the lawyers representing the families of protesters killed and injured this year during a popular revolt against Mubarak requested the replacement of Judge Ahmed Refaat.
Lawyer Abdel Aziz Amer told state television that one of the reasons is an alleged kinship between judge Refaat and one of those accused, Hussein Salem, a businessman said to be a close aid of Mubarak.
Others have earlier said their complaint was related to the testimony of the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Hussein Tantawi, which he gave behind closed doors last month.
They said they were not allowed enough time to ask Tantawi questions.
If their request is accepted, a new team of judges would be assigned to start the trial from scratch.
Mubarak, 83, is being tried on charges of ordering the killing of around 850 people during the revolt that eventually toppled him in February. Ex-interior minister Habib al-Adli and six former security aides face the same charges.
Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and business mogul Hussein Salem are also accused of corruption. All defendants pleaded not guilty when the trial started on August 3.