[women-rights] Egypt: First group of female judges appointed

Government Should Now Ensure Women's Participation at All Levels of
Judiciary 

(Cairo, March 22, 2007) -- The Egyptian government's appointment of
the country's first group of female judges is a welcome step toward
ending discrimination against women in the judiciary, Human Rights
Watch said today. 

Before the Supreme Judicial Council appointed the 31 female judges on
March 14, the only sitting female judge in Egypt was Tahani
al-Gibali, who was appointed to the High Constitutional Court in 2003
by presidential decree. The new female judges are expected to be
assigned to courts by the end of the month. 

The government's previous exclusion of women from the bench was not
codified in Egyptian law. The Supreme Judicial Council, which is the
government body tasked with appointing judges, had simply rejected
the applications of all women applying to join the criminal
department of the public prosecutor's office, from which most junior
judges are chosen. In some cases, the council explicitly cited the
applicant's gender as the reason for her rejection. 

"Egypt's appointment of female judges sends a strong message about
including women's voices in the judicial process,” said Farida
Deif, women's rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights
Watch. "For this decision to have real bearing, the government must
now follow up by removing other barriers to women's participation at
all levels of the judiciary.” 

The apparent change of policy in regards to the appointment of women
to the bench brings the Egyptian government closer to compliance with
antidiscrimination provisions in international law and its
constitutional guarantees of equality of opportunity to all
Egyptians. In order to fully meet these obligations, the Egyptian
government should ensure that female judges are not solely relegated
to certain types of courts, such as family courts, and that there is
no discrimination in the selection or training of these judges.

The government should also apply objective and clear procedures for
the appointment of judges in line with international standards set
out in the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Independence of
the Judiciary. 

The appointment of women to the bench comes as the result of a long
campaign by a broad range of Egyptian civil society groups. Some
senior judges had argued to exclude women from the bench on the
grounds that they would have to spend time alone with men. 

"This is a positive step, but it shouldn't be the last,” Deif
said. "We hope the government will select applicants to serve on a
variety of courts, irrespective of their gender.”

Human Rights Watch Press release