CAIRO: In light of the ongoing debate regarding the appointment of female judges in the Egyptian State Council, female judges from Egypt and all over the Arab World came together to discuss success stories of women in the judiciary.
“Arab Women Judges: Success Stories was held by the League of Arab States in collaboration with the Alliance for Arab Women.
“The issue of gender equality is an ongoing struggle in which there has been steps forward and steps backward, said Ambassador Mervat El Telawy, former vice secretary general of the United Nations. She cited the Egyptian People’s Assembly that had set a quota for women back in the 1970s only to retract its decision and then reinstate it again last year.
“For this reason their needs to be guards and today we are bringing role models in the field, she added.
The Egyptian Constitution states that there should be no discrimination of any form between citizens on the basis of gender, ethnicity, language, religion or belief. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – which Egypt has ratified – lso stresses the fact that there should be no discrimination against women holding any position.
This is the third conference the Alliance for Arab Women holds as part of a campaign to help qualified women reach the post of judge. It first began in 1998, upon the realization that Egyptian women were being denied their right to judicial posts, in 11 Arab countries women have access to such positions.
The first conference titled “The Arab Woman in Judicial Bodies was held in collaboration with the Judges Club and UNICEF. The second was held in 2002, under the title “The Arab Woman: Years in the Judiciary, in collaboration with the Supreme Council for Culture and the European Union.
“Now after the Egyptian woman has proved her success as a judge, the General Assembly of the State Council votes against her appointment, we must work together and share our experiences in order to save women’s rights in face of the opposing current and get our constitutional and legal rights, said El Telawy.
The majority of the conference’s participants agreed with the fact that the opposition against women in the judiciary is a cultural problem. “We need to work on changing the culture because this is where the main obstacle lies, said Emad Abu Ghazi, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Culture.
“When [lawyer] Aisha Rateb was rejected by the State Council this started a public debate and now 60 years later the same issue is being debated, he noted.
The argument that women have an important role to play at the judicial level of the Egyptian justice system is not a new one. “Our Arab culture and the Islamic religion all recognize the vital role of the female and the Arab female has proven her success in all fields, said Fatma Khafagy, board member of the Alliance for Arab Women.
Around the Arab World, Sudan has appointed the first female judge in 1965 and in Tunisia by 2008, women made up 27 percent of judges. Morocco is considered a pioneer in the field as the foundation was laid in 1956, after which successive constitutions solidified the rights of women to take part in political and public life. In Lebanon today women make up more than 50 percent of judges.
Among the attendees were Adly Hussein, Governor of Qaliubeya, who formerly headed the Constitutional Court and the Cairo Criminal Court. “In the short period females have been judges in Egypt, 90 percent of them have received the highest grades by the Judicial Inspection Committee which evaluates the work of judges, he said, adding that he is hopeful that the State Council will make the right decision and hire female and is looking forward the Prosecution Office will do the same.
Sima Behous, assistant secretary general for Social Affairs Sector at the Arab League, stressed on the point that women will be granted their rights by “joint efforts and strives by the males and females together.
