The College of Law and the American Bar Association (ABA) held a panel discussion entitled “The Pathway to Becoming a Judge" on December 1 for the college's women students.

Guest speakers were Judge Sheikha Maha Monsour Salman Jassem Al-Thani, one of only two women judges in Qatar, and Judge Fatema Faisal Hubail of the Major Civil Court of Bahrain and the third woman appointed to the judiciary in that country.

Judge Maha and Judge Fatema spoke to a large group of more than 70 female students at the College about their life and work as judges. Judge Hubail traced her journed from being a lawyer to becoming a judge. She noted that in the past, Bahrain appointed judges from positions in the Public Prosecutor's office or positions as Legal Researcher. She was appointed from outside these ranks, based solely on her professional abilities. She said that her appointment reflects Bahrain’s commitment to increasing the number of women in the judiciary.

\udge Maha spoke of her appointment to the court in 2008 and the three-year training period required for new judges in Qatar. She completed her training program recently and can now hear and decide case.

Both judges discussed challenges to society accepting women as judges as well as the skills and talents that women need for that position. Students questions ranged from how judges make decisions – whether by emotion or facts or both – and on society’s impression that women may not have the proper emotional make-up to be judges. Judge Maha and Judge Fatema acknowledged that there was still a long way to go to prove that women judges are as capable as their male counterparts.

The level of interest in the judiciary showed by the students signalled that more and more Qatari women would be inspired to move in that direction.

Student Salma Al-Baloushy said, “After attending such a great panel, I realized how a woman is able to reach a very high position, and that gave me incentive to study harder and be successful in my studies to reach that high level of achievement".

Marlana Valdez, ABA Program Director and QU Visiting Professor at said, “We greatly appreciate the wonderful advice that Judge Maha and Judge Fatema provided to the students today. They are both very positive role models for young Qatari women, demonstrating that they too can become leaders of their country, and can hold top positions in the judiciary".