International Day of Women Judges

The Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary was adopted on 06 September 1985 by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders held at Milan from 26 August to 6 September 1985. Whereas in the Charter of the United Nations the peoples of the world affirm, inter alia , their determination to establish conditions under which justice can be maintained to achieve international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination, Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines in particular the principles of equality before the law, of the presumption of innocence and of the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law, Whereas the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights both guarantee the exercise of those rights, and in addition, the C...

  “[W]hile there has been a marked ideological shift in the ways Judges adjudicate matters relating to gender-based violence and femicide in recent times … the fate of these victims should not be left to the off-chance that the individual Judges hearing their cases will be attuned to the sensitivities. There should be a formalization and standardization of these norms so that it is incumbent on the Courts to pay particular attention to the treatment of victims in these cases.” Conceptual framework underpinning an effective judicial response to gender-based violence against women and girls  Part one: “Judges do not enter public office as ideological virgins. They ascend the Bench with a built-in and often strongly-held set of values, preconceptions, opinions and prejudices. These are inevitably expressed in the decisions they give, constituting ‘inarticulate premises’ in the process of judicial reasoning.” Summary: While the role of the judiciary in criminal proceedings varies ...