Govt to Train Women as Judges

August 15, 2007 – (AllAfrica) The South African Judiciary has designed a special programme to train women in the judicial field to increase the number of women judges in the country.

The aim of this project is to provide accelerated development to selected participants for the purpose of fast-tracking them for possible appointment as judges to address the under-representation of women in the judiciary.

The Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, Justice Pius Langa will unveil the programme on Thursday in Pretoria by hosting a dinner for the 19 women who where selected to participate.

The participants, selected from the magistracy and legal private practice, underwent three months of theoretical training and will undergo a further six months of practical judicial training at the various High Courts.

There is a need to facilitate the appointment of women as judges, as there are 201 active judges of which only 16 percent (33) of them are women and only one of them is a Deputy Judge President.

The programme, which is a project run by the Judiciary, is further intended to establish a wider skills pool from which women judges of all races can be drawn.

Special guests at the launch will include the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, Brigitte Mabandla, and Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who will deliver the keynote speech.

From:http://allafrica.com/stories/200708150205.html