While the state advocates the nomination of women as judges, the strongest protests, ironically, come from within the legal profession, writes Mona El-Nahhas The announcement that the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) and the Justice Ministry had granted preliminary approval for women already working for state-affiliated judicial bodies to be appointed as judges has provoked heated debate in legal circles. The decision was made public last week, following a fatwa by the grand mufti, Ali Gomaa, stating there are no religious objections to women serving as judges. While several Arab countries have already appointed women judges, Egypt has appeared reluctant to follow in their footsteps. It was not until 2003, when Councillor Tahani El-Gebali was appointed to the Supreme Constitutional Court, that Egypt had its first female judge. The Justice Ministry appears determined to press ahead with plans to widen the scope of female appointments, and already plans to test 124 women within the next few days. It will then be the responsibility of the SJC to determine in which courts, those that pass the required tests, are appointed. While Judge Ahmed Mekki has adopted a more measured response to the moves than many of his colleagues, saying the Cairo Judges Club is neither for, nor against the assigning of women to judicial posts, he does argue that it is essential, should the changes go ahead, that male and female candidates are treated with absolute equality. "For example, it would be unacceptable to allow women to leapfrog into judicial posts without first serving in the General Prosecution. Women, just like men, must first be appointed as prosecutors before they can be considered for a judicial posting," Mekki told Al-Ahram Weekly. Nor, he continued, would it be acceptable if women received preferential treatment when it comes to the location of their postings. It is usual, says Mekki, for judges to be moved after five years in a post, a measure intended to prevent them from forming social relationships with local petitioners that might then influence their rulings. "But would the same principle be applied to women if they are appointed as judges," he asks, "or will they be left working only in Cairo or Giza?" While the Cairo Judges' Club appeared determined to approach the issue in a level-headed way, other judges' clubs were vociferous in their objections to the move. The Beni Sweif Judges' Club went so far as to call on President Hosni Mubarak, in his capacity as the head of the Higher Council of Judicial Bodies, to prevent women from being appointed as judges. The board of the State Council Judges' Club has also come out in opposition to the plan, claiming the appointment of women to judicial posts is in contradiction with Islamic law. They question the feasibility of Gomaa's fatwa, arguing that it runs counter to the opinions of a large number of Muslim jurists. Other judges see the move as part of an international agenda forced upon Egypt. While this is an interpretation with which Mekki sympathises, he also sees a purely domestic agenda behind the move. "The timing of the raising of this issue is an attempt to divert the attention of judges away from their battle for reform and for complete judicial supervision of elections," he says. "Appointing women as judges will not offer solutions to the problems facing the judiciary but it will help the state redirect its own confrontation with judges into a superficial conflict between male and female judges."
