First group of female judges appointed in Egypt.Before the Supreme Judicial Council appointed the 31 female judges on 14 March, the only sitting female judge in Egypt was Tahany al-Gebali, who was appointed to the High Constitutional Court in 2003 by presidential decree decree, in law, decision of a suit in a court of equity. It is the counterpart in equity of the judgment in a court of law, although in those jurisdictions where law and equity have merged, judgment is sometimes used to include both. . The government's previous exclusion of women from the bench was not codified cod·i·fy tr.v. cod·i·fied, cod·i·fy·ing, cod·i·fies 1. To reduce to a code: codify laws. 2. To arrange or systematize. in Egyptian law Egyptian law Law that prevailed in Egypt from c. 3000 BC to c. 30 BC. No formal Egyptian code of law has been preserved, but legal documents (e.g., deeds and contracts) have survived. The pharaoh was the ultimate authority in the settlement of disputes. . 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. 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 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," said Farida Deif, women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. "We hope the government will select applicants to serve on a variety of courts, irrespective of irrespective of prep. Without consideration of; regardless of. irrespective of preposition despite their gender." Source: Reuters Reuters British cooperative news agency. Founded in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter, it was initially concerned with commercial news but began to serve a growing newspaper clientele after the London Morning Advertiser subscribed in 1858. |
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