Kolkata:

 Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said that more has to be done towards achieving maximum gender representation in the legal profession, while appreciating strides already made towards that direction.

He urged the legal fraternity to work towards fostering more equality.

The CJI said that in various states, in the competitive examinations for the lowest level of judicial service, over 60 per cent of the recruits are now women.

“That shows you the social evolution that is taking place in India,” he said, speaking at the bicentenary celebration of the Bar Library Club of the Calcutta High Court at the Town Hall here.

“But while progress is being made in terms of gender representation, there remains a pressing need to ensure that our judicial institutions are truly inclusive and accommodating for all,” the CJI said.

He said that despite the presence of female lawyers, amenities and facilities catering to their specific needs are “sorely lacking”.

Women often have multifaceted identities – balancing household tasks and child-rearing responsibilities alongside their professional careers, he said.

The CJI said that managing both domestic and professional spheres can be a daunting exercise for women.

“The expectation that women shoulder dual roles as caregivers and as professionals, highlights the need for supportive policies and environment within our legal institutions,” he said.

He said that the introduction of a meal for Rs 25 for the staff of the Supreme Court, where more than 2,000 women work, after he took over as CJI, has gone a long way in helping those women who do not find time to cook for themselves in the morning to get wholesome food at their workplace.

“A small initiative like this makes such a big difference to the empowerment of women,” he said.

The CJI urged the legal fraternity to build on the initiatives, ensuring that they translate into meaningful actions that foster more equitable treatment for women.

“Encouraging diversity and inclusion strengthens our legal system and enriches the perspectives that drive justice,” he said.

Stating that the Supreme Court has in its 75-year history designated a total of 313 women as senior counsels, he said that this February, 12 women were designated senior counsels at one go in one particular selection.

Holding that common citizens feel that adjournments have become a routine of the judicial system in present times, he said that this perception is disheartening.

“This leads to prolonged litigations, increased costs for litigants and delayed justice, ultimately eroding the public trust in our legal system,” he said.

Drawing reference from popular Hindi cinema ‘Jolly LLB’, he said that the protagonist in the movie confronted the courtroom dynamics and that Jolly observed another advocate manipulating evidence to favour his wealthy client.

“This fictional portrayal vividly reflects real-world concerns where professionalism and ethical standards are sometimes compromised affecting the credibility of legal proceedings,” he said.

Asking whether lawyers should be ceasing to do work to pay respect to a member of the Bar who has passed away, he said.

“Every minute of judicial time which is lost is judicial time lost in answering a case of a litigant who is crying for justice,” he said.

He said that the traditions of the legal fraternity can be suitably altered to pay respects and yet at the same time make themselves in tune with the demands of modern society.

The CJI also called for doing away with resistance to technological advancements within the legal profession.

Supreme Court judges Justice B R Gavai and Justice Dipankar Dutta, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T S Sivagnanam were among those present at the programme. PTI AMR NN

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Representational image of a women political leader

The year 2024 is being hailed as the biggest year for democracy, with 45% of the global population preparing to exercise their voting rights or having already cast their ballots. It thus becomes imperative to assess how women are represented in politics and leadership roles.

Women’s representation in political spheres improved in the latter half of the 20th century, with significant progress made in many nations in securing voting rights and parliamentary seats, and in climbing to the highest political offices. However, this has been uneven. And despite substantial gains, women continue to constitute a minority in most parliamentary bodies and are rarely seen in top political leadership positions.

Data compiled by political scientist Svend-Erik Skaaning and colleagues show that until the mid-19th century, universal suffrage was virtually non-existent for both men and women across the world (Chart 1). However, a stark divergence then emerged, as men in certain nations were granted voting rights while women were excluded. New Zealand broke this pattern by extending universal suffrage to women in 1893.

Chart 1 | The chart shows the share of countries where both men and women have the right to vote, the share of countries where only men have the right to vote, and the share of countries where there is no universal right to vote.

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The gap between male and female political participation widened in the early 20th century, despite women gaining suffrage in more countries, as men’s voting rights expanded even further. By the onset of World War II, men had the right to vote in one out of three countries, while women did in only one out of six countries.

The gap then rapidly closed when the voting rights discrimination against women ended in many countries, and both women and men gained the right to vote in many others.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the share of seats in the lower or single chamber of the legislature held by women over time.

In the early 20th century, women were largely absent from national parliaments, according to data based on the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. Norway first saw women enter parliament in 1907; nearly 10% of the country’s parliamentary seats were occupied by women (Chart 2). However, the latter half of the 20th century witnessed a significant surge in the number of women entering parliament. This trend accelerated in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Rwanda’s parliamentary composition surpassed the 50% mark for women’s representation in 2008, setting a remarkable precedent. In the same year, countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Finland, and Sweden had between 40% and 50% women parliamentarians.

However, despite the progress, women’s political representation has been limited and uneven. Women make up about half of all the representatives in only a few countries. As of 2022, in close to 60 countries, the share of women in parliament was 20% or less. And in three countries, there are no women (Chart 3).

Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of seats in the lower or single chamber of the legislature held by women as of 2022.

While women’s representation in parliament is important, so is their representation in a country’s highest political office. Data from V-Dem shows that at any given point in time, almost all political chief executives have been men (Chart 4). Here, the term “chief executive” means the head of state or head of government, depending on who has more power. There has been a slight increase in the share of countries led by women in the last three decades. However, the share of countries where woman occupy the post of chief executive is still less than 10%.

Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of countries by the gender of their chief executive.

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