Most sources point to the fact that Tahani Al-Jabali is the first woman to hold a judiciary position in Egypt in 2003, and that Iraqi Zakia Ismail Hakki is the first female judge in the Arab world after she was appointed in Iraq in 1959. However, archives from Al-Musawar’s publication in its November 14, 1958 issue refutes these beliefs, as it revealed that their predecessor was Egyptian Ensad El-Borai, who became a judge in 1958. According to Al Musawar, El Borai graduated from the faculty of law in Cairo University in 1955. At the Arab Lawyers Conference held in 1956 in Cairo, she met Syrian lawyer Salim Akil, who she later married and moved with him to Syria. During her time in Syria, which was back then the United Arab Republic (a political union between Egypt and Syria), she worked as a lawyer and quickly became known among the lawyers community in Syria for her tact, sophistication and intelligence in dealing with her cases. El Borai’s name was raised to the Supreme Judicial Council and was approved as a judge in 1958 to deal mostly with the cases of minors…
The Unknown Story of Ensaf El Borai: First Egyptian and Arab Female Judge
August 31, 2019
