Women judges urged to face gender discrimination bravely

LAHORE

Senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, on Saturday exhorted women judges to face gender discrimination bravely as it was an ugly face of society.

He was speaking at a “Women Judges’ Conference” organised by Punjab Judicial Academy at a local hotel.  Justice Nisar said challenges faced by women judges were not grave and could be overcome with little effort. "The real challenges for  women judges were to maintain a sound character and competency, "he said and added, “Our women judges can become best judges of the world if they successfully meet the two challenges.”

Justice Nisar was of the view that women judges should keep fighting the mindset of gender discrimination with great courage and making decisions as per law. He said corrupt and incompetent judiciary could be called a curse of God on a nation but “We have to face the challenge and grow with a constructive thinking.”

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijazul Ahsan said the rising number of women judges in a male-dominated society was a very welcoming trend.

He said women judges constituted an important part of district judiciary and the High Court was determined to providing them with a fearless environment to dispense justice. He said throughout ages women lived in the man’s world saturated by a male-dominated ideology. Only in recent times there has  been growing awareness among women about the dysfunctional impact of underlying injustice and gender-based inequity, he added.

He said there was a direct relationship between disempowerment of women and backwardness of any society. He said there could be no sustainable human development without the full and equal participation of women. He said induction of female judges in considerable numbers in district judiciary with equal opportunities of professional development and assigning them to hold responsible and senior positions were few steps being taken by the High Court in this direction.

He said at an institutional level they were fully aware and recognised the fact that women members of district judiciary were an important part of the system. The chief justice pointed out that existing courts and residential facilities will be improved to make them more women-friendly. “I will leave no avenue unexplored in a sincere effort to find plausible workable and permanent solutions for resolving problems of the women segment of district judiciary,” the CJ said. 

Senior puisne judge of the LHC, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said the women judges had to develop an independent thinking in their minds and decide cases fearlessly strictly in accordance with law.