First woman appointed court head in Jordan

Dubai: For the first time in Jordan, a woman has been appointed to head a court and will lead a team of judges, Jordanian media announced yesterday.

According to the decision issued by the Jordanian Judicial Council, Ehsan Barakat will assume responsibilities as Chief Justice of the West Amman Court of First Instance, on June 1. The Jordanian judge was also the first woman to be appointed as an appeal judge.

Barakat's jurisdiction includes supervising all judges of the court, administrative supervision of its employees, as well as developing work procedures at the court, and managing the Public Notary and executive department of the court.

"This is a very important step for Arab women in the region. It is a tough competition to be appointed as a decision-maker," said Bara-kat, who will be in charge of 22 judges and 81 employees starting on June 1 in a statement published by Jordan Times.

"I am up for this tough task," said Barakat.

The Court of First Instance in West Amman includes 12 judges and 10 magistrates.

The decision comes after Queen Rania's meeting with the 32 female judges working at local courts on Women's Day, which was aimed at encouraging Jordanian women to work in the judicial field.

Barakat started her legal career in 1986 and two years later set up her own law firm before breaking ground three years ago when she became the first woman to serve in Jordan's appeals court.

With additional inputs from AFP