Staff Reporter
Lahore
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Sunday hinted at the inclusion of two women judges in the Supreme Court in the near future and said, “Our women judges have proven their abilities through their verdicts and by the way they have handled complex cases.”
Addressing the concluding session of the Women Judges Conference here, the CJP praised the performance of women judges deputed at district and high courts. “We have as many as 300 women judges in district courts and we hope to soon have at least one or two in the Supreme Court. I had the opportunity to propose two names and they are being actively considered.”
The CJP spoke about how the working environment affected women judges in Pakistan as he urged them to remain confident in their abilities and relaxed in their demeanour.
He said some of them were passing harsher judgments trying to prove a point to their male counterparts. “Women judges have to take certain steps to survive in the male-dominated environment,” said Justice Khosa, “But all judgments should be passed according to the law. Be firm but also be fair.”
The CJP said Pakistan’s courts have been working for the protection of women’s rights for the past 50 years, adding that for the country’s prosperity it was essential to ensure that women are empowered in all walks of life.
He said the constitution ensures equal rights and treatment of all citizens including minority groups. “The Holy Quran also time and again stresses the need to ensure justice for all. Allah loves those who are just.”
Justice Khosa also spoke on the need for coordination among the bar and the bench. “These are two wheels of the judiciary and effective coordination between them is essential for the delivery of justice to the masses.” He stressed that it is the judiciary’s responsibility to provide justice to the people as they had placed their faith in the courts. He said that it was absolutely vital to enforce the law and maintain order for the development of Pakistan. The Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa imparted advice to lady judges saying they “should be relaxed and be themselves”. Khosa said that because women judges work in an environment dominated by men, they are expected to be very compassionate, kind and considerate “like mothers”.
“But we have noticed that when they become judges, somehow because the whole atmosphere is male-dominated […] a ‘she judge’ also likes to behave like a ‘he judge’ so that she is taken seriously.
“This is one thing that we have noticed, that she does not even smile in the courtroom lest anyone else may get some impression,” the chief justice said, noting this was a problem that male judges did not experience.
“Male judges don’t have that problem. They would cut jokes with the lawyers, they would relax the atmosphere and they would be comfortable with everybody else appearing in the court.
Additionally, the chief justice said that he had an objection with the title of the conference ‘Women Judges Conference’ and added that some other phrase should be coined for it and the distinction shouldn’t be based on gender.
“This is a contradiction in terms. We’ve been told that we have to change the vocabulary […] you haven’t, please walk the talk. Act on what you tell us.”
