Women Judges and Women\u2019s Rights in Pakistan

Abstract

Although the first appointment of women judges in Pakistan dates back to 1974, the massive appointment of &ldquo;lady judges&rdquo; in the past decade has caused a jump in female representation in the judiciary to more than one third &ndash; a quiet move that sends a message of adherence to the principle of gender equality as per the international treaties to which Pakistan is signatory. By investigating the everyday interactions and preoccupations of women-judges in their daily management of justice, this paper explores the socio-legal reception of the human rights discourse from the perspective of the female judges. The challenge in this scenario lies, on the one hand, in whether this change will be only formal or will also lead to substantial and accountable justice and, on the other hand, how the global agenda impacts local expectations and conceptualizations of rights within and beyond the state. A pesar de que la designaci&oacute;n de juezas en Pakist&aacute;n se remonta a 1974, la significativa designaci&oacute;n de "se&ntilde;oras juezas" en la pasada d&eacute;cada ha provocado que la representaci&oacute;n de las mujeres en la judicatura haya pasado a m&aacute;s de un tercio en juzgados de familia -un cambio silencioso que env&iacute;a un mensaje de adhesi&oacute;n al principio de igualdad de sexos consagrado por los tratados internacionales de los que Pakist&aacute;n es firmante. Mediante la investigaci&oacute;n de las interacciones y preocupaciones cotidianas de las juezas en su gesti&oacute;n habitual de la justicia, este art&iacute;culo analiza la recepci&oacute;n sociojur&iacute;dica del discurso de los derechos humanos desde la perspectiva de las mujeres que ejercen la judicatura. En tal estado de cosas, cabe preguntarse si este cambio se limitar&aacute; a las formas o si, por el contrario, alcanzar&aacute; a la justicia sustancial y comprobable. Los hallazgos permiten tambi&eacute;n elucidar la forma en que la agenda global afecta las expectativas y conceptos locales sobre los derechos, dentro y fuera del estado. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3034280</p