LAHORE: Chief Justice-designate Gulzar Ahmad said on Friday women judges played a crucial role in development and encouragement of women in eliminating gender bias.

He said the women working in judiciary had become a role model for those sitting at homes.

“Role of men and women is equally important for prosperity of the country,” said Justice Ahmad speaking at 3rd Women Judges Conference held by the Punjab Judicial Academy (PJA) and the Lahore High Court (LHC).

He stressed the need for to have true representation of women at all levels of the judiciary.

He applauded work of the women judges and promised to work for improving the court environment, making it more accessible and sensitive.

Says they should be encouraged so they can dispense justice without fear

He noted that the women judges in district judiciary had been dealing with complicated cases regarding women and children. He said the women judges needed to be encouraged more so they could dispense justice without any fear.

Justice Ahmad was of the view that no society could excel without encouraging its women. He said the conference hosted by the Punjab Judicial Academy was a voice of whole judiciary.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan discussed issues of gender discrimination, saying the high court was in process of establishing gender-based violence and juvenile courts throughout the province.

He emphasized the need to improve accessibility to courts and stated that efforts were being made to improve the court environment.

Justice Ayesha A. Malik of the LHC underlined the importance of the gender perspective in upholding the rule of law. She focused on the use of gender neutral language and providing a more gender sensitive court environment for women, children and the differently-able persons.

She said gender perspective was an all-inclusive concept which was not just for women but for all judges and that the women judges had a role to play in bringing this perspective to the forefront.

Speaking on the occasion, PJA Director General Habibullah Amir and Director Programmes Jazeela Aslam recognised the efforts of the Justice Ayesha A. Malik for the conference.

The event was attended by the women judges of Punjab who would spend next two days discussing issues from the gender perspective in the civil justice system, criminal justice system, and the digital world.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2019