Iran awaits verdict on women judges

Women's roles in Iran are slowly changing

By the BBC's Sadeq Saba

Senior Islamic clerics in Iran are expressing contradictory views about whether women can become judges.

One leading cleric in the holy city of Qom, Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi, has said women can only act as advisors in courts and not pass sentences.

His comments follow a statement by another senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Musavi-Bujnourdi saying all restrictions barring women from becoming full judges should be removed.

The question of female judges is a contentious issue in the Islamic Republic, and observers say the debate is a reflection of the growing assertiveness of women in Iran.

Such views also indicate that the Iranian clergy are more and more being divided between those who support the reform policies of President Mohamad Khatami and others who endorse his conservative opponents.

Total equality

President Khatami has introduced a new liberalism to Iran

Pro-reform clerics such as Ayatollah Boujnourdi say that there should be total equality between men and women in all matters.

He rejects the traditional Islamic view that women cannot become judges, because they are emotional and incapable of making impartial decisions.

But conservative religious leaders such as Ayatollah Makarem regard such views as un-Islamic and insist that passing sentences in courts should be reserved for men.

Under pressure from women groups, the Iranian judiciary has in recent years conceded some ground by appointing several women as assistant prosecutors.

Reform 'inevitable'

But women groups continue fighting for their equal rights to hold any judicial position.

They say it is an anomaly that women can be members of cabinet, enter parliament and act as defence lawyers, but cannot become judges.

Observers now believe that reform in this area is becoming inevitable.

Under the former regime of the Shah, there were no restrictions on women to taking any judicial positions.

But the new Islamic rulers sacked all female judges as soon as they took power in the 1979 revolution.