{"id":27516,"date":"2022-01-07T22:55:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T22:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=27516"},"modified":"2022-01-07T22:55:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T22:55:27","slug":"first-female-judge-nominated-for-pakistans-supreme-court-womens-rights-and-gender-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/07\/first-female-judge-nominated-for-pakistans-supreme-court-womens-rights-and-gender-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"First female judge nominated for Pakistan\u2019s supreme court | Women’s rights and gender equality"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pakistan\u2019s top judicial commission has nominated a female judge to the supreme court for the first time in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

The move to pave the way for Justice Ayesha Malik to join the court has been widely praised by lawyers and civil society activists as a defining moment in the struggle for gender equality in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The parliamentary secretary for law and justice, Maleeka Bokhari, called it a \u201cshattering of the glass ceiling\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn important and defining moment in our country as a brilliant lawyer and decorated judge has become Pakistan\u2019s first female SC [supreme court] judge,\u201d Bokhari, a junior minister of the ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party, wrote on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 55-year-old\u2019s appointment has been supported by the chief justice of Pakistan, Gulzar Ahmed, and now goes to a parliamentary panel for confirmation.<\/p>\n

The decision has not been without opposition, with one group of lawyers threatening to strike if Malik joined the supreme court bench. The nine-member commission turned down her appointment to the court last year, but this time the decision of the panel of judges was five votes to four in her favour.<\/p>\n

A number of lawyers and judges said her selection violated the rules in terms of seniority, maintaining that she was not among the top three senior judges in the court from which she was nominated \u2013 the Lahore high court, where Malik has served since 2012.<\/p>\n

Imaan Mazari-Hazir, a lawyer in Islamabad, said: \u201cWomen have, in the past, been blocked from becoming chief justices of their respective high courts and the fact that we did not have a single woman in the supreme court until now illustrates that there is indeed deep-rooted misogyny in the legal fraternity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Malik has given some landmark verdicts in her career, last year outlawing virginity tests<\/a> for female rape survivors. \u201cIt is a humiliating practice, which is used to cast suspicion on the victim, as opposed to focusing on the accused and the incident of sexual violence,\u201d she said in her verdict, which only applies in the state of Punjab.<\/p>\n

Nighat Dad, a digital rights lawyer and human rights activist, said Malik had proved \u201cher competence in the courtroom\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice Ayesha Malik\u2019s appointment is a historic move for our judicial system as it is not only the first time a woman has a seat in the supreme court since Pakistan\u2019s inception, but it opens up endless possibilities for other women in the legal field,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a country where crimes of gender-based violence are a constant reality, more women in the supreme court can hopefully have a domino effect on the larger justice system to be more inclusive,\u201d said Dad, adding that the law had \u201cimmense barriers for women and marginalised communities\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n