Egypt will appoint its first female judge to the bench, with an appeals court lawyer, aged 52, being nominated to the Supreme Constitutional Court, a court official said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is expected to formally announce Tahany el-Gebaly's appointment to the North African top court within the next couple of days, the official said, requesting anonymity.
The official said el-Gebaly, a Cairo University law graduate and lawyer with almost three decades of experience had been nominated by the court's general assembly late last week.
El-Gebaly, who is regarded as an expert in international law, refused to discuss news of her imminent appointment with AP, saying authorities had ordered her not to comment until Mubarak announced the decision.
The move, which marks the first break by a female into what has been until now a male-only domain, was a major step for women's rights in Egypt, according to senior lawyer Nasser Amin.
El-Gebaly was among 25 female lawyers who in 1998 applied to sit on the bench. A year earlier, Fatma Lasheen became the first female lawyer to seek a judiciary seat, however her request was rejected.
El-Gebaly became the first woman to be appointed to Egypt's Lawyer's Syndicate in 1989 and the regional Arab Union in 1992. She remains the sole female representative to the pan-Arab body. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
