Only males may confer citizenship. In rare cases, this means that children who are born to Egyptian mothers and stateless fathers are themselves stateless. A woman's testimony is equal to that of a man's in the courts. There is no legal prohibition against a woman serving as a judge, although in practice no women serve as judges. The Court of Cassation agreed to hear in January 2000 the case of attorney Fatma Lashin, who is challenging the Government's refusal to appoint her as a public prosecutor.
Laws affecting marriage and personal status generally correspond to an individual's religion.
A 1979 liberalization of the Family Status Law, which strengthened a Muslim woman's rights to divorce and child custody, was repealed in 1985 after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the use of a presidential decree to implement the law was unjustified. Muslim female heirs receive half the amount of a male heir's inheritance, while Christian widows of Muslims have no inheritance rights. A sole male heir inherits all his parents' property. This harmful practice is generally performed on girls between the ages of 7 and 10, with equal prevalence among Muslims and Christians. Women and minorities are underrepresented in government and politics.