We desperately need more women judges, so why aren’t we getting them?
By Khushboo Takyar , 3rd Year Law Student Delhi, India
All over the world where there are courts Justice has been represented by that woman with a sword, scales and a blindfold. You know her, right? Lady Justice.But funny how inside the courtrooms? There are not many Lady Justices to be found.
The elephant in the room was finally out in the open last week with a five-judge verdict that said triple talaq was unconstitutional and un-Islamic. While much was made of the fact that the five judges represented five different faiths, there was less comment that not one among them was a woman.
In the same week, nine judges in a separate judgement, perhaps the most significant of our times, declared that privacy is a fundamental right. Not one of the nine was a woman.
There is one woman judge among the 25 Supreme Court judges at present: Justice R. Banumathi, a former chief justice of the Jharkhand high court who was elevated to the Supreme Court in August 2014 and was, earlier this year, part of the bench that confirmed the death sentence on the men convicted in the 16 December 2012 “Nirbhaya” gang-rape case.
The lack of gender diversity in the higher judiciary has been commented upon in the past. Of the 229 judges appointed to the Supreme Court since 1950, when it was established, only six have been women. It took the court 39 years to get its first woman judge, Fathima Beevi, who was appointed in 1989. It would take another seven years for the appointment of the second woman judge, Sujata V. Manohar, in 1994. In the 23 years since, only four more women have been appointed Supreme Court judges.When five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court in February, not one was a woman, even though there were two women chief justices, G. Rohini in Delhi (who has since retired) and Manjula Chellur in Bombay. “Women are available but they are just not on the horizon of those who appoint judges,” “The Supreme Court has done itself no favours by not considering the women who are excelling in the bar.”
In my opinion “A woman judge will understand the realities of a woman’s life better.” At a time when civil society and women themselves are increasingly vocal about their rights, it might not be a bad time for the courts to start setting their own house in order. When there is a case of sexual harrasment,rape case,acid attack it is very difficult for the victim to answer the court specially when there is a male judge in court. In India in most of the cases women are the suffering victim and due to India’s culture and custom she is not able to communicate properly or - I can say - express herself as what she actually feels or is suffering from. However, when there will be female judges in the courtroom, the women who are suffering can more comfortably express there situation. In my opinion it’s a psychology of every women that a women can understand a woman’s problem better. So I think our judicial system at this point of time is eager to have more female judges.
By Khushboo Takyar , 3rd Year Law Student Delhi, India
All over the world where there are courts Justice has been represented by that woman with a sword, scales and a blindfold. You know her, right? Lady Justice.But funny how inside the courtrooms? There are not many Lady Justices to be found.
The elephant in the room was finally out in the open last week with a five-judge verdict that said triple talaq was unconstitutional and un-Islamic. While much was made of the fact that the five judges represented five different faiths, there was less comment that not one among them was a woman.
In the same week, nine judges in a separate judgement, perhaps the most significant of our times, declared that privacy is a fundamental right. Not one of the nine was a woman.
There is one woman judge among the 25 Supreme Court judges at present: Justice R. Banumathi, a former chief justice of the Jharkhand high court who was elevated to the Supreme Court in August 2014 and was, earlier this year, part of the bench that confirmed the death sentence on the men convicted in the 16 December 2012 “Nirbhaya” gang-rape case.
The lack of gender diversity in the higher judiciary has been commented upon in the past. Of the 229 judges appointed to the Supreme Court since 1950, when it was established, only six have been women. It took the court 39 years to get its first woman judge, Fathima Beevi, who was appointed in 1989. It would take another seven years for the appointment of the second woman judge, Sujata V. Manohar, in 1994. In the 23 years since, only four more women have been appointed Supreme Court judges.When five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court in February, not one was a woman, even though there were two women chief justices, G. Rohini in Delhi (who has since retired) and Manjula Chellur in Bombay. “Women are available but they are just not on the horizon of those who appoint judges,” “The Supreme Court has done itself no favours by not considering the women who are excelling in the bar.”
In my opinion “A woman judge will understand the realities of a woman’s life better.” At a time when civil society and women themselves are increasingly vocal about their rights, it might not be a bad time for the courts to start setting their own house in order. When there is a case of sexual harrasment,rape case,acid attack it is very difficult for the victim to answer the court specially when there is a male judge in court. In India in most of the cases women are the suffering victim and due to India’s culture and custom she is not able to communicate properly or - I can say - express herself as what she actually feels or is suffering from. However, when there will be female judges in the courtroom, the women who are suffering can more comfortably express there situation. In my opinion it’s a psychology of every women that a women can understand a woman’s problem better. So I think our judicial system at this point of time is eager to have more female judges.