In News
- Recently, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) backed 50% representation for women in the judiciary.
About
- The CJI called for “urgent correction” of the gender imbalance in the judiciary.
- The CJI further added that it’s not a small issue. It’s an issue of thousands of years of suppression. It’s a matter of right.
- Invoking Karl Marx’s “workers of the world” call, the CJI said: “Women of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains.”
Women’ Stats in Judiciary
- Low Participation: Women constitute only-
- about 30 percent of the lower judiciary,
- 11.5 percent of the High Courts,
- 12 percent of the Supreme Court.
- Right now there are just 4 women Judges in the Supreme Court – Justices Indira Banerjee, Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna and Bela M Trivedi.
- Of India’s 1.7 million advocates, only 15 percent are women.
- Only 2 percent of the elected representatives in the State Bar Councils are women.
- There are no women members in the Bar Council of India.
(Image Courtesy: TOI )
Benefits of Women Reservation
- Broader Perspective: Gender sensitization will provide a diverse perspective to judgments.
- Implementation of Stringent Laws: Laws for heinous crimes are not yet effective, specially for Acid attack and rape. More inclusion of Women in judiciary will impact in proper implementation of such laws.
- More Empathy: Lack of empathy reflected in some of the judgements could significantly reduce.
- Gender of a judge does not matter when a citizen goes to court, but with a female judge hearing the person’s comments always makes the citizen (if female) less uncomfortable.
- It will benefit LGBTQ community as well, as women in general are more accepting towards different orientations of people.
- The High Courts (HCs) that are headed by women have higher representation of female judges than those headed by men.
Challenges
- Gender stereotypes that force women to bear the responsibilities of the family.
- The preference of clients for male advocates.
- An uncomfortable environment within courts.
- Vacancy filling takes place at very slow pace and collegium generally don’t prefer women judges
- Biological discrimination takes place when making appointments in private firms as well as Government places.
- Lack of Infrastructure and Washrooms: Out of 6,000 trial courts, nearly 22 per cent have no toilet for women.
- Recently many cases are rising which lack professionalism on the part of senior advocates towards junior female advocates.
Global Scenario
- India is not an isolated case when it comes to a huge gender imbalance in its top court.
- Many developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland and international bodies are also grappling with the same issue.
(Image Courtesy: IE )
Suggestions
- Infrastructure: The National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation will ensure inclusive design of Court complexes.
- Gender Diversity in Legal Education: there should be a fixed number of seats, reserved for women candidates, in all colleges and universities providing law courses.
- Legal Vacancies: Increase the number of seats in the judiciary so that participation rate and presence both can increase.
- Atmosphere: Making work environment safer and proper implementation of Vishakha Guidelines even at lower levels (small firms).
Conclusion
- Simply inducting a woman CJI would not absolve the judiciary from the responsibility and accountability it holds.
- Reorientation and ground- level changes are required to convert the rosy picture into reality.
Source: IE
