On Tuesday the Supreme Constitutional Court postponed its decision on whether women should be appointed as State Council judges, reports Reem Leila The court heard the petition submitted by Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marei requesting clarification of clauses in the law regulating the appointment of female judges to the State Council. Marei asked if the word "Egyptian" mentioned in the law included women as well as men. After deliberating for two hours the court announced it would postpone its verdict until Sunday. The problem originated when law students who graduated in 2008 and 2009 began applying for judicial posts. They completed the required tests and interviews and then the process was halted in mid-January when a special committee of the State Council expressed reservations about the appointment of female graduates to the council and referred the question to the general assembly. The move triggered demonstrations by more than 150 women's rights organisations. Protests were held before the State Council and National Democratic Party (NDP) headquarters, with demonstrators demanding judges be appointed on merit and not gender. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, president of the National Council for Women (NCW), pointed out that female representation in leading posts remains limited due to outdated concepts retaining their hold on society. "These concepts," she said, "pose major obstacles to providing equal opportunities for women to participate in the process of public decision-making." Mrs Mubarak's opinion was echoed by Safwat El-Sherif, secretary-general of the National Democratic Party (NDP). "The NDP fully supports women's rights," said El-Sherif. He stressed that the NDP's woman's secretariat was committed to supporting women until they obtained all the rights assigned to them under the constitution. MP Ebtesam Habib demanded amendments to clauses contained in State Council regulations, insisting that the term "men of the State Council" be replaced by "members of the State Council". The change, she said, is necessary to make the regulations consistent with the text of Article 40 of the constitution which enshrines the principles of equality, justice and non-discrimination. Tahani El-Gebali, Egypt's first female judge and a member of the Supreme Constitutional Court, said the decision to bar women from the State Council had "created a crisis without substance". She admitted that she was surprised by the decision which she attributed to "the extremist and fundamentalist religious thought that is taking over society". Farkhonda Hassan, secretary-general of the NCW, says she is ready to support female law graduates who are seeking appointment to judicial positions. Hassan called on female leaders and rights activists to express their disappointment over the State Council's decision during this month's conferences convened in celebration of International Women's Day. "I'm disappointed to see that a deep-seated bias against women still prevails among judges," said Hassan. In 2007, Egypt had only one woman judge, appointed by President Hosni Mubarak to the constitutional court. "Now there are more than 150 female judges distributed among Egypt's different courts," Hassan pointed out. "So why not the State Council?" The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights issued a statement on 2 March calling for a debate on the State Council's rejection of women members. The statement demanded the State Council reveal the reasons behind its decision to suspend female appointments, pointing out that the decision "violates the law and the principles of justice".
