VOA标准英语2011--Kenya Women's Groups Want More Female Ju

Women's groups in Kenya are calling for the government to appoint at least one woman to fill the country's top judicial¹ positions. The Kenyan president in late January announced nominations² for the positions, but withdrew the names following a ruling that the process was unconstitutional. Two commissions are now recruiting candidates for the positions.
The executive director of the Federation³ of Women Lawyers in Kenya, Grace Maingi, is quick to point out the lack of women in the country's upper legal echelons⁴.
"If you look at the history of Kenya with regards to the judiciary and gender⁵ disparities within the judiciary, we have never had a female chief justice since 1963 [independence], and the current Court of Appeal does not have a female judicial officer," Maingi said. "So there is this glass ceiling that is preventing women from being able to move into high-ranking offices within the judiciary."
Chief Justice is one of three key legal posts that need to be filled in the coming months. Also to be named is Controller of Budget.
According to Kenya's new constitution, appointed and elected positions must consist of at least one-third of either gender.
At the lower magistrate⁶ level, women are well represented. Nine out of 13 judges for Nairobi listed on the judiciary website are women. In High Court, the highest legal office that women have reached, the ratio is lower, with 18 of 44 judges listed on the website being women. Under the new constitution, Kenya is in the process of creating a Supreme⁷ Court.
FIDA's Maingi describes what should happen if a woman is not appointed to be Chief Justice, the Attorney General, or the Director of Public Prosecutions⁸.
"Even if they decide to appoint a female deputy chief justice, we will then be calling for a bare minimum of two-thirds female Supreme Court judges and then a remedying of the Court of Appeal, because then the Judicial Service Commission has to make sure that the judiciary complies with the new constitution," she added.
In January, President Mwai Kibaki put forth⁹ names to fill the key posts, a move that drew widespread criticism. Eight women's groups challenged the nominations in High Court, calling the appointments unconstitutional and discriminatory against women.
The High Court ruled in the groups' favor, and soon after, Kibaki withdrew the names. In line with the constitution, the Judicial Service Commission will recruit the Chief Justice, while the Public Service Commission will advertise for the Director of Public Prosecutions and Controller of the Budget.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are discussing the Attorney General's post.
Lawyer Judy Thongori, one of the advocates involved in the High Court case, says she and her colleagues are watching events very closely.
"Behind the scenes we have been involved in encouraging women to apply and encouraging women to polish up their CVs," said Thongori. "That is a starting point. We will be looking at the process to confirm that it has facilitated the participation¹⁰ of both men and women."
She explains that not only should at least one of the top three legal posts be filled by a woman, but a woman deputy should be appointed in the case where a man gets the position or a male deputy if a woman is appointed. Thongori says the Attorney General's position should be filled through competition.
FIDA executive director Grace Maingi estimates that at least 100 women would qualify for the key posts.
Women officials in the legal system say they experience an overriding¹¹ patriarchal attitude that women are unable to serve in demanding and important offices, leadership roles are not appropriate for women, and that there is a lot of political interference even with the selection of judicial officers.
"There is something about our system - especially the way you are taken in through those committees and they are bringing up some dirt or other on you that may not even relevant to the job that makes people cringe, and you may not have good people or the best people applying," Thongori added.
In general, Kenyan women have had a tough time in the legal system. Until the new constitution was enacted¹² last year, women had few rights in the areas of inheritance, marriage, land ownership, domestic violence, and others.
Often they could not access the courts, and when they did, their rights frequently were not upheld.
Advocates Thongori and Maingi say they think women in the key posts will more likely address these and other historical injustices¹³.
"If we have a judicial officer who is a woman who is gender sensitive, she will be able to make sure that we do have policies that enable women to access justice and enable marginalized groups to access justice in a much better and a faster manner," said Maingi.
Many are heartened by the successful challenging of the president's nominations and the filling of these posts through competition.
Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis programs coordinator¹⁴ Eric Aligula says he thinks these developments show that people are using the constitution to ensure that the rule of law prevails.
He says appointing women for a top job such as Chief Justice is part of this process.
"I think it would be positive if you had a woman being named a C.J. (Chief Justice), but like I said before, the primary consideration should be merit," Aligula said. "If there is a woman candidate who meets or even surpasses the qualifications I think they should be appointed. It works out pretty well for the country in the sense that you would be bringing (in) a group of the country that was not very actively¹⁵ involved in the running of the affairs of the country into the mainstream¹⁶, so that is a good thing."
A process he says is good for the whole country.

1 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

2 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 echelons   

n.（机构中的）等级，阶层( echelon的名词复数 )；（军舰、士兵、飞机等的）梯形编队

参考例句：

• Officers were drawn largely from the top echelons of society. 这些官员大都来自社会上层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Except in the higher echelons, extensive classification has no place in the classification of vegetation. 除高阶类级之外，外延分类在植物分类中还是没有地位的。 来自辞典例句

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

11 overriding   

a.最主要的

参考例句：

• Development is of overriding importance. 发展是硬道理
• My overriding concern is to raise the standards of state education. 我最关心的是提高国民教育水平。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

14 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

15 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

16 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。