Emiratis will hold all judiciary positions within five years, ministry announces

Strategy is to hire only nationals and also to encourage women to take up positions.

Powered by automated translation

The entire judiciary in the country will be nationalised within the next five years, the minister of justice announced yesterday. Dr Hadef Jouan al Dhahiri said that the ministry had adopted a five-year strategy that would help employ only nationals in the judicial posts and would also encourage women to join the field.

Speaking at a press conference, held at the Institute of Training and Judicial Studies in Sharjah, Mr al Dhahiri said that currently more than 50 per cent of posts in various judicial roles were held by Emiratis. In the public prosecution departments across various emirates, 95 per cent of jobs are filled by nationals. He also said that the justice ministry was putting in place certain amendments that "will eventually open up for women the freedom and opportunity to work in that sector" to encourage more working women to join the judiciary, according to a report by WAM, the government news agency.

Meanwhile, some sectors, including the insurance industry, were lagging behind in the hiring of nationals, noted Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the minister of economy. "There are still some sectors which witness slow pace of Emiratisation. Though it plays a pivotal role in all economic and business activities, and has managed to attract investments to the tune of Dh23 billion in 2007, the insurance sector still lags behind when it comes to Emiratisation of jobs," he said during a speech read on his behalf at the opening session of a seminar on the Emiratisation of jobs in the insurance sector in Dubai.

Of 6,320 employees in the country's insurance sector, only six per cent are Emiratis. "The insurance companies and relevant authorities must show some effort and commitment in attracting UAE nationals to join the sector," said Mr Mansouri @Email:sbhattacharya@thenational.ae