UAE appoints first female judge

MAKING HISTORY: UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhaheri as Abu Dhabi's first female judge. (AFP)

The UAE on Wednesday appointed its first woman judge, a job hitherto reserved for men in the conservative Gulf country.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, acting in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhaheri as a judge in the emirate, the wealthiest and largest in the seven-member UAE federation, the official Wam news agency 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.

"I will endeavour to perform my functions with utmost (competence) ... in order to provide a successful model of Emirati women working in the judiciary," Al-Dhaheri was quoted by Wam as saying.

The new judge graduated in law and sharia (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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