More female than male judges in Court of Appeal

PUTRAJAYA: There are now more female than male judges in the Court of Appeal, outnumbering men 29 to 15.

This is following the elevation of three more women to the second highest court in the country.

They are Datuk Suraya Othman, 59, Datuk Yeoh Wee Siam, 64, and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, 56.

Besides the three, another woman – Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, 64 – was promoted to the Federal Court.

With this latest exercise, there are now four women out of a total of 16 judges in the Federal Court.

Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif said it was not a mere case of filling up the quota as the judges were chosen for their performances and tireless work ethics.

“Today is a historic moment for the judiciary as four women judges were elevated,” he said in his speech at the Palace of Justice.

Md Raus said that their promotions proved that there was no prej- udice against gender in the appointments, and that it was given to judges based on their outstanding merits.

“Let us pray that they have the strength, grit and determination to raise the benchmark of the judiciary even higher,” he said.

Ipoh-native Alizatul Khair read law in Universiti Malaya (UM) and continued her education at the University of London.

She then started her career as a Federal counsel in the Attorney- General’s chambers (AGC) advisory division in 1976.

She was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner (JC) on May 1, 2003, before being confirmed as a High Court judge on Dec 21, 2004.

On May 11, 2011, Alizatul Khair was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Suraya, from Johor, also read law at UM and started her career as a deputy public prosecutor with the AGC in 1982.

She was appointed a JC on Oct 2, 2006, before being confirmed as a High Court judge on Sept 5, 2007.

Fellow Johorean Yeoh read law in UM and started her career as a Federal counsel in 1977.

Rhodzariah, from Bintangor, Sarawak, read law in the same local university and started her career as a magistrate in Kuching.

Both Yeoh and Rhodzariah were appointed JCs on Jan 5, 2009, before being confirmed as High Court judges on Aug 10, 2011.