Shura Council to vote on proposal for appointing women judges
Cairo: Two years after the Saudi Shura Council blocked a call for appointing women as judges in the kingdom, the consultative body is expected to vote Wednesday on a recommendation specifically suggesting to appoint women as judges in the personal status courts. The council’s member Isa Al Gheith has tabled the latest proposal that has received backing from some colleagues.
“The Saudi judicial system has not made judicial posts limited to males,” said Latifa Al Shaalan, a female council member backing the new bid. “Nor is there any clear text in the Islamic Sharia banning women from being judges,” she was quoted by Saudi newspaper Okaz as saying.
The Shura member pointed to the appointment of women as judges in several Arab countries including Kuwait and Egypt. “In 2003, the then Shaikh of Al Azhar Mohammed Tantawi issued a ruling saying that there is no clear text in the Holy Quran or Sunna [Prophet Mohammed’s sayings] prohibiting the woman from becoming a judge. This fatwa led to the appointment of an Egyptian woman as a judge in Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court,” said Al Shaalan, a university professor and a writer.
She also cited a shortage of judges in Saudi Arabia as another reason for backing the fresh proposal. “Failure to allow the woman to join the judiciary does not conform to Saudi Vision 2030,” she said, referring to the kingdom’s ambitious development scheme. “It is high time to allow her to enter this vital field.”
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has adopted a series of dramatic social and economic reforms, mainly towards women.
In 2018, women were allowed to drive cars, ending a decades-old ban in the kingdom.
Last August, Saudi women were allowed to travel without a male guard’s approval and to apply for a passport, easing long-time controls on them.
