CAIRO - An Egyptian civil society organisation said Thursday that it would approach the United Nations over the decision of Egypt's State Council to ban women from being judges, slamming the move as 'discrimination against women'. The Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP), a human rights group, explained that it would file a complaint with the UN Human Rights Council against the banning of women judges. "Since there is no authority concerned about the issue of appointing female judges in the State Council, we have decided to contact the UN bodies," said Nasser Amin, the head of ACIJLP, in a press conference Thursday. Amin urged the State to issue a decision forcing the State Council to accept women as female judges. "The intervention of the State is the only way out of this crisis,” he stressed. The refusal of the General Assembly of the Egyptian State Council to appoint women as judges in the council has sparked an angry reaction among lawyers and advocates for women's rights. The decision has raised concerns about the impact on the efforts of the Government and civil society to promote women's rights and gender equality in the political and social arenas. Last February, the General Assembly voted by an overwhelming majority ��" 334 to 42 ��" against appointing women judges to the State Council, postponing this step until "the right conditions" are in place. In 2007, Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council, which has jurisdiction over criminal and civil courts, selected 31 women to be judges, who were later appointed by presidential decree. But the decision angered conservatives who said women were not suited for the role.
