The Special Commission of the State Council, which includes seven veteran judges, deferred until July a final decision to appoint women judges in Egypt's administrative courts, despite backing from the Supreme Constitutional Court last week. "An ad-hoc committee was formed to study the whole matter of appointing women judges in the State Council and administrative courts. Its report will be reviewed by the Special Commission in three months," a source at the Council said on Monday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that the ad-hoc committee would be a tripartite one comprising Judges Adel Farghali, Mohamed Attiya and Kamal el-Almai, all of whom are deputies to the State Council's chief. "It is not an appropriate time for women to be appointed as judges in the State Council due to some practical hurdles," the source said. (The Special Commission is the Council's supervisory body, which ratifies its sensitive decisions.) "All the media are asked not to tackle the story of the appointment of women judges in the State Council and let the committee that has been formed study the matter calmly with no pressure," a statement from the Special Commission said Monday. It added that any judge in the Council who made remarks to the press on the issue “will be severely disciplined”. Last week, the Supreme Constitutional Court backed the right of women judges to sit on the bench in administrative courts, despite opposition from conservatives. The ruling followed a dispute within the State Council, the top administrative court, over whether women should or should not be appointed. The Council's general assembly voted overwhelmingly against female judges, reigniting a debate within the country over women holding senior governmental posts, particularly in the judiciary. The head of State appointed Egypt's first female judge to the Constitutional Court in 2003 and four years later 31 other female judges were installed.
