A justice ministry directive published Tuesday by Kuwait’s Al-Waton Daily announcing that women lawyers in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to plead cases in court for the first time starting in November has been circulating in celebration in social media and regional newspapers.
According to the directive, the ruling will take effect at the beginning of next month, after the end of the four-day Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, and will apply to all women who have a law degree and have spent at least three years working in a law office.
Back in February 2010, Saudi Arabia’s justice ministry announced it was preparing to allow women to practice law in the courtroom. The time has finally come, and it is good news for women in the highly conservative kingdom. Saudi Arabia has been making an increased effort to include women in the workforce. Job opportunities for Saudi women began to look up in August, with the announcement of an industrial city that will provide work for women, as well as men. Now, new opportunities for women in the kingdom are further supported and reinforced by the justice ministry’s directive.
It will be interesting to see how many women can fulfill the directive’s requirements. How many women with a law degree have three years of work experience? How will law offices enhance this opportunity?
Perhaps the directive will bring forth new ways of encouraging and supporting women’s roles in the sociopolitical sphere of the region while maintaining the cultural values that have such importance. Does this directive mark the beginning of a shift in the system? Or is the system finding other possibilities within the same framework?
Source: Baker Institute Blog: http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2012/10/saudi-arabia-to-allow-women-to-serve-as-lawyers-in-court/