CAIRO: Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Zend announced the imminent appointment of a batch of Egyptian women as presiding judge in courts of first instance, Youm7 reported Saturday.
“In addition, women will be appointed as aids to the Minister of Justice in recognition of women’s role in the society,” Zend said in a Saturday press conference dubbed “Female Judges in the Arab World.”
Zend did not explain further details; however, the Ministry of Justice often carries out an annual reshuffle that includes appointing a new group of female judges.
Since 2007, Egyptian women have been appointed court Judges; the first group included 30 female Judges.
Zend added that the third group of the female judges will be appointed Saturday, noting that the second group was in 2008.
In 2003 she was appointed by President Hosni Mubarak to her office,[1] becoming by that the first woman to hold a judiciary position in Egypt
Tahany al-Gebaly was Egypt’s first woman to hold a judiciary position. She was appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak in 2003 as vice-president of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the highest court in the state.
A number of female women faced problems to be appointed in the judicial positions in the State Council in January 2014 after the Council board rejected their applications, which have not been approved yet. The Council is authorized to consider only the government’s draft projects, and draft laws; it also has the right to challenge a government’s administrative decision.