DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates hopes to amend a law and allow women to become federal judges and prosecutors, a local newspaper quoted Justice Minister Mohammed Nakhira al-Zahiri as saying.
The Gulf News reported on Sunday that women were being trained for the job and two women in the capital Abu Dhabi had been appointed as prosecutors and would begin work once the amendment to the judiciary law was passed.
If approved, the move would make the UAE the second Gulf Arab country to allow women to become judges, the English-language daily said.
The UAE, a federation of seven emirates including the Gulf trade and tourism hub of Dubai, is among the most liberal countries in a conservative Muslim region where many see women’s primary role as being in the home.
More than 85 percent of the population is comprised of foreigners and both Emirati and foreign women work in all sorts of sectors and professions and enjoy broad freedoms.