ISLAMABAD/LONDON - Country’s first female Supreme Court judge, Justice Ayesha A Malik sworn in on Monday in the capital Islamabad.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed Monday administered the oath of office to Mrs Ayesha A Malik, Justice of Lahore High Court (LHC), as Judge of the Supreme Court at Supreme Court in a simple and dignified ceremony.
The judges of Supreme Court, Attorney General for Pakistan, senior lawyers, Law Officers and officers of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan attended the ceremony. Registrar Supreme Court conducted the proceedings of oath taking ceremony. Officers and staff of the Supreme Court of Pakistan were also present on the occasion.
Ayesha Malik, 55, now sits on a bench with 16 other male colleagues in the Muslim-majority country’s top court, BBC reported late Monday. Lawyers and activists said it was a rare victory after decades of struggle to get representation for women in Pakistan’s male-dominated society.
Some lawyers and judges opposed Justice Malik’s appointment as she was seen to be less senior than other candidates.
Justice Malik outlawed use of so-called ‘virginity tests’ during rape examinations of sexual assault victims last year
It is the only South Asian country to have never had a female Supreme Court judge, according to Human Rights Watch. In addition, only 4pc of Pakistan’s high court judges are women.
Justice Malik, who was educated at the Pakistan College of Law and Harvard University, has served as a high court judge in the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan for the last two decades. She is seen to have played an important role in challenging patriarchal legal mores in the province.
Last year, she outlawed the use of so-called “virginity tests” during rape examinations of sexual assault victims. Lawyers and activists hailed Justice Malik’s elevation as a historic appointment.
“It’s a huge step forward,” rights activist and lawyer Nighat Dad told AFP news agency. “It is history in the making for Pakistan’s judiciary.” Others said there was much more still to be done.
Justice Malik’s appointment was criticised by some and last year her elevation to the same post was voted down. Her appointment to the Supreme Court was hotly contested once again this time around, with the nine-member commission passing her appointment by five votes to four.
In the months running up to this year’s vote, many lawyers and judges also accused Justice Malik of jumping in front of a queue of more senior male candidates who were seen to be more qualified for the post. Some lawyers even threatened to go on strike if she was appointed.
Justice Malik was the fourth most senior judge in the lower court from which she has now been elevated.
Justice Ayesha is the first female judge to sit in the Supreme Court. She became the judge of LHC in March 2012 and was number four on the high court judges’ seniority list. She will work as a Supreme Court judge until June 2031. She will also become Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Yahya Afridi in January 2030.
Justice Ayesha became a Lahore High Court judge in March 2012 and was at number four on the LHC judge seniority list. Before her appointment as a judge of the Lahore High Court, she taught law as a lecturer of Banking Law at the University of Punjab and a lecturer of Mercantile Law at the College of Accounting & Management Sciences in Karachi. Her legal portfolio includes appearances before the High Courts, District Courts, Banking Courts, Special Tribunals, and Arbitration Tribunals. At one point, she was called upon as expert witness in family law cases conducted in England and Australia involving issues of child custody, divorce, women rights, and constitutional protection for women in Pakistan.