Judge Barakat appointed first woman attorney general

By Abeer Numan

AMMAN - The Judicial Council appointed Judge Ihsan Barakat as Amman attorney general, thus becoming the first woman to assume the post in Jordan’s history.

Barakat will assume her new duties on Sunday to succeed Judge Mazen Qaraan, who was promoted to serve as a Cassation Court judge, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Over a telephone call yesterday, Barakat voiced gratitude to the Judicial Council and Minister of Justice Hisham Tal for their confidence, describing the post as important and a new challenge for her. She also voiced hope that she will be able to shoulder the responsibility.

On Wednesday, Barakat was appointed as assistant director of the General Prosecution Office before she was entrusted with the post of Amman attorney general.

The decision was good news for women’s rights advocates.

“We are proud of the council’s decision which comes in response to calls to give qualified women the opportunity to assume decision-making positions in Jordan,” law professor Abeer Dababneh, who heads the University of Jordan women’s studies department, said yesterday.

Barakat, also chairperson of the board of the Arab Women’s Legal Network, was serving as a judge at the Amman Court of Appeal, also making history by becoming the first women to occupy such a post.

She was also the first judge to occupy the post of court president, as she served as the chief of the West Amman Court between June 2007 and July 2009.

Between 2004 and 2005, Barakat was director of international relations at the Ministry of Justice, where she participated in the drafting of the National Agenda as a member of the Legislation and Justice Pillar Committee.

Before joining the judiciary, she worked as a lawyer and legal consultant at her own law firm (1998-2002).

9 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=32485.