Cairo, 27 August 2025
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) welcomes Presidential Decree No. 447 of 2025, which included the appointment of 48 women from the 2021 graduating class as Assistant Delegates to the State Council, representing approximately 23% of the total 207 appointments.
This percentage reflects real progress, and ECWR values this step. However, it is important to stress that such a proportion still falls short of achieving the aspired level of equality within the judiciary.
ECWR honors the struggle of Egyptian women spanning more than seventy years to secure their right to appointment within the judiciary, in the face of societal, institutional, and legal obstacles that long stood in the way of achieving this right. What has been achieved today is the fruit of generations of women’s perseverance and must serve as a driving force to continue the path of reform to ensure full equal opportunities.
At the global level, estimates indicate that women constitute slightly over 25% of members of the judiciary, although some countries far exceed this rate. As for higher courts (Supreme Courts), OECD data shows that women make up 33.6% worldwide.
Looking at Islamic and Arab countries, women’s representation in the judiciary varies widely, with an average participation of around 14% in Arab states. Notable examples include:
- Algeria, where women represent 42% of the judiciary, the highest among Arab countries.
- Tunisia, where women’s participation stands at approximately 43.1%, though this does not extend to judges in senior positions.
- Conversely, countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt record very low levels of women’s participation, not exceeding 1% in some cases.
These disparities confirm that strengthening women’s presence in the judiciary requires institutional efforts and systematic policies to achieve real and sustainable progress.
In this regard, Ms. Nehad Aboul Komsan, Chairwoman of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, stated:
“This appointment is a positive step, and the women of Egypt deserve full recognition. However, it is certainly not the end of the road. What has been achieved should be the starting point toward a clear institutional path that ensures women’s natural and stable participation at all levels of the judiciary, not through exceptional measures.”
ECWR renews its call for the adoption of concrete and enforceable policies to strengthen women’s access to senior judicial positions and to remove the legal, social, and institutional barriers that limit their representation—considering this a fundamental indicator of the State’s genuine commitment to equality and non-discrimination.
