Abu Dhabi: “I’m not afraid of taking on the responsibility of a judge, it’s an honour for me,” the first female Emirati judge told Gulf News on Friday.
Kholoud Al Daheri, who was appointed as a judge in the Abu Dhabi courts last week, said: “I know some people do not accept women as judges and don’t prefer them in their cases, but the court system doesn’t give parties in any case the right to choose the judges.”
The United Arab Emirates yesterday got its first woman judge, a job hitherto reserved for men.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, acting in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhahiri as a judge in the emirate, the largest in the seven-member UAE federation, state news agency WAM reported.
The move made the UAE the second Arab country in the Gulf after Bahrain to name a female judge.
The appointment reflects “the government’s keenness to involve women in the development drive” and “boost their role in society,” said Sultan Saaed Al-Badi, a senior official of Abu Dhabi’s judiciary.
For her part, Al-Dhahiri thanked the UAE leadership for its confidence in her. “I will endeavor to perform my functions with utmost (competence) … in order to provide a successful model of Emirati women working in the judiciary,” Dhahiri was quoted by WAM as saying.
She added that the UAE women had shown great capability in many fields, adding that the judiciary would be another challenge for women.
The new judge graduated in law and shariah (Islamic law) from UAE University and has been a practicing lawyer for eight years, the news agency said.
The UAE Cabinet includes four women. Nine women also sit on the 40-member Federal National Council, an assembly that advises the government.
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