Women Judges:

GS Paper 1:

Topics Covered: Issues related to women.

Context:

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana has promised to take up with the Supreme Court Collegium the demand for more women judges.

Status of women in Indian judiciary:

• In the 71 years of history of the SC, there have been only eight women judges — the first was Justice Fathima Beevi, who was elevated to the bench after a long gap of 39 years from the date of establishment of the SC.
• There are only 80 women judges out of the sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
• There are six High Courts — Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand — where there are no sitting women judges.

Benefits of diversity and gender representation in Supreme court:

1. The entry of women judges into spaces from which they had historically been excluded has been a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative.
2. By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
3. They could contribute far more to justice than improving its appearance: they also contribute significantly to the quality of decision-making, and thus to the quality of justice itself.
4. By elucidating how laws and rulings can be based on gender stereotypes, or how they might have a different impact on women and men, a gender perspective enhances the fairness of the adjudication.
5. Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
6. Improving the representation of women could go a long way towards a more balanced and empathetic approach in cases involving sexual violence.

Challenges to women’s entry into judiciary:

• A major barrier to women’s recruitment as district judges are the eligibility criteria to take the entrance exams.
• Lawyers need to have seven years of continuous legal practice and be in the age bracket of 35-45.
• This is a disadvantage for women as many are married by this age.
• Further, the long and inflexible work hours in law, combined with familial responsibilities, force many women to drop out of practice and they fail to meet the requirement of continuous practice.

Insta Curious:

Did you know that the Supreme Court currently has the highest number of women judges ever in its history?

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. What is collegium?
2. How are Judges of Supreme Court and high courts appointed?
3. Appointment of retired judges.
4. Related constitutional provisions.
5. Powers and functions.

Mains Link:

Discuss the issues associated with collegium system for the appointment of judges.

Sources: the Hindu.