Egypt's first State Council female judges sworn in

Judge appointments are latest step in President El Sisi's drive to empower women in Egypt

Nearly 100 women were on Tuesday sworn in as the first female judges of Egypt’s State Council, one of the country’s main judicial bodies, in Giza. All photos by EPA

One of the 98 newly appointed members of the Egyptian State Lawsuits Authority takes oath at the State Council headquarters in Giza.

The newly appointed women judges were sworn in before the council’s chief judge, Mohammed Hossam El Din, in a celebratory event in Cairo.

The swearing in ceremony came months after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asked for women to join the State Council and the Public Prosecution.

Newly appointed Egyptian judges wait in line at the swearing in ceremony at the State Council headquarters in Giza.

Taha Karsoi, secretary general of the Council of State, during the swearing in ceremony of the newly appointed female judges in Giza.

A newly appointed female member of the State Council, one of Egypt's main judicial bodies, takes oath at the council headquarters in Giza

Farag Hossam El Din, head of the Council of State, left, and secretary general Taha Karsoi, during the swearing in ceremony of the newly appointed female judges of Egypt's State Council, in Giza.

About 100 Egyptian women have been sworn in as the first female judges to join the country’s State Council, a top tribunal that rules on administrative disputes and reviews draft laws.

The swearing-in ceremony came seven months after President Abdel Fatah El Sisi ordered that women should join the State Council and the prosecution service, hitherto the only two judicial bodies that are exclusively male.

“They are an important addition to the State Council,” the council’s chief judge, Mohamed Hossam El Din, told the Tuesday ceremony.

The State Council was created in the 1940s as an independent body mandated to rule on administrative and disciplinary cases as well as appeals. Besides draft legislation, it reviews contracts in which the government or a government-linked body is a party.

The swearing-in of the 98 female judges was the latest step in Mr El Sisi’s drive to empower women in this patriarchal and majority Muslim nation of 100 million people.

A constitutional amendment was adopted nearly three years ago that gave women 25 per cent of all seats in parliament’s two houses.

The current Egyptian government led by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli has a record eight female ministers.