Move to qualify women judges praised [Archives:2006/931/Local News]

SANA'A, March 22 ) Yemeni women's groups praised a recent government decision to begin qualifying women to become judges.

“This is an excellent decision, which we consider a good step toward improving women's positions in a male-dominated sphere,” said Huryah Mashhoor, deputy chairperson of the Women's National Committee. “Women's presence as judges in the judiciary system has become a necessity.”

The Ministry of Justice announced March 18 that women will be accepted for the first time in the Supreme Judiciary Institute (SJI) to become qualified as judges. This term's prospective new class of 104 students includes four women, Mashhoor added.

“There's no legal constraint anymore for women to join the SJI. Four women have applied this year,” explained Judge Taha Al-Ansi, SJI manager for educational affairs. “There are criteria for final admission, which all students must meet. There's no problem having women work as judges.”

Women frequently worked in judiciary positions in South Yemen prior to 1990 unification, with women's empowerment featuring high on the Yemeni Socialist Party agenda, the south's then ruling party. “Qualifying women judges stopped after 1990 due to a conservative and religious culture that doesn't recognize women as judges,” Mashhoor said.

She added that previously there were 34 women judges in the south, but they now perform administrative duties at the Justice Ministry.

Lawyer Fathia Abdulwase, head of the Ministry of Information's legal department, said South Yemen was a pioneer in its appointment of women judges. “Women ran courts and prosecution there with distinction,” she said, “They even outperformed men in handling public lawsuits.”

SJI students expressed varying opinions about the move to accept women. For example, Naser Shmasan objected to the decision: “Some clerics say women aren't born to become judges. This is a very challenging task requiring strong people.”

However, Shmasan's colleague Mohammed Al-Houthi held a different view: “I don't have a problem with women joining us here. They're even better than men because women don't take bribes.”
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