Women Judges ruled Constitutional in Egypt

Women can sit as judges in Egypt’s administrative courts, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled yesterday.

The country’s top administrative court, the State Council (Maglis al-Dawla), originally voted by a huge margin against allowing women as judges, but, after women’s groups picketed, the council’s supervisory body overturned the decision. That ruling was backed by Egypt’s Constitutional Court, which declared that all citizens are equal.

Until 2007, there was but one woman judge in Egypt; currently women hold 42 of the 12,000 judicial seats in the country.

Read more Ms. coverage on women in politics here or on global women’s rights here.

About

Alexandra was a 2010 editorial intern at Ms. who helped launch the Ms. Blog. She is from Climax, Minnesota and has written for the Grand Forks Herald, the University Chronicle, the St. Cloud Times and Ms. She is now copy-editing for Live Nation/Ticketmaster, and is looking for employment in nonprofits, journalism/PR and/or women's rights. Check out her resume at www.wix.com/msatweet/portfolio!