Mathilda Twomey becomes country’s first female judge
Seychelles has its first female judge. The landmark appointment goes to Mathilda Twomey as a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Seychelles.
The appointment confirms the progress the country has made in the appointment of Seychellois to the judiciary, and in this particular case, it is the beginning of a necessary step to redress the gender balance in this branch of Government.
For the Seychelles National Party, this is the realisation of another major goal, which the party has succeded in achieving as a strong opposition. Until a few years ago, the appointment of Seychellois judges was deliberately avoided by the SPPF/Parti Lepep Government. The pattern was to appoint expatriates, who could later be re-appointed or granted citizenship. The creation of an independent judiciary, with the lifetime appointments of competent Seychellois judges, has been a prominent proposal in the SNP manifesto for all elections since 1993.
It was only a combination of the policies of the SNP, expressed in the National Assembly, in this newspaper and in public, that broke down the resistance to the appointment of Seychellois judges. Today, a number of our nationals are serving on the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. These courts have also assumed more independence. For those who doubted that a Seychellois judiciary would serve the country better, the evidence is there to show it.
There remains only one major step in the SNP programme for judicial appointments. That is the appointment of a Seychellois Chief Justice.
Mathilda Twomey (maiden name Butler-Payette) qualified as a Barrister-at-Law and practised law in Seychelles between 1987 and 1995, first as a Senior State Counsel in the Attorney-General’s office and later in private practice. At the time of the return of the country to a multi-party political system, she was involved in the Democratic Party and was a member of the Seychelles Constitutional Commission that drafted the Constitution of the Third Republic. Since 1995, she has lived and worked in Ireland and has had no political role.
Mrs. Twomey will be a worthy recruit to the Court of Appeal of Seychelles. She will also be an inspiration and a role model for women striving to achieve leadership in the Government of our country.
Source: Regar 3-18-11