The disempowerment of the judiciary in Syria since the March revolution of 2011 and the emergence of off-bench resistance to authoritarian rule: What role for women judges and prosecutors?

The Arab uprisings of 2010-2011 generated a growing movement for change among the judicial corps throughout the Arab world. Judges and prosecutors created independent associations in Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, and Tunisia to represent their interests and promote a better administration of justice. Since the March Revolution of 2011 in Syria, members of the judiciary also attempted to create their own association, but failed to do so. This article briefly outlines the demographics of the judicial corps after ten years of conflict in Syria. A noticeable change is the increase in the number of women in the judiciary and their promotion to positions of power. How have women judges and prosecutors used the greater authority granted to them? To the advantage of the regime, as a means for self-promotion or to better defend the rights of all? The second part of the article details the progressive disempowerment of the judiciary, the expansion of the criminal justice system and the creation of the Counterterrorism Court used by the regime to quash the popular uprising. In the final section, stories of off-bench resistance highlight efforts made by judges and prosecutors to defend their judicial autonomy and the basic human rights and freedoms of all Syrians.

Why women judges really matter: The impact of women judges on property law outcomes in Kenya

In this paper, I discuss the impact that women judges have made in property law outcomes in Kenya. The study shows that women judges were able to influence a feminist jurisprudence in matrimonial property and inheritance disputes peripherally even though they were not sitting in some of those cases – through trainings of other [male] judges and informal interactions with colleagues. I argue that there is need to focus lens on the collaborative and networking programmes of women judges to bring about institutional change as opposed to a focus on individual women judges. The findings suggest that studies that focus on individual [women] judges have far less potential to uncover the impact of collective efforts of women judges. Existing studies are based largely on Anglo-American positivist methodologies that are based on methodological individualism over collectivism. It is no wonder that the collective efforts of women judges under the auspices of the International Women Judges Association has received little to no scholarly attention.

Women at the bench: Does it make a difference? Assessing the impact of women judges in addressing gender-based issues in Ghana

The impact of women judges in addressing gender-based issues, particularly in Africa, is largely under-researched both at the regional and country-specific levels. This paper researches on the impact of women judges in selected gender-based cases in Ghana – that is spousal property rights cases. The paper seeks to answer the primary question: in addressing spousal property rights in Ghana, have women at the bench made a difference? In answering this question, a doctrinal analysis of purposively selected cases was conducted which led to a finding that women judges did not make a difference in the development of the law on spousal property rights in Ghana. The findings and recommendations made in this paper are expected to contribute to the understanding of how female participation in judging gender-based cases have influenced and could potentially influence the interests and rights of women as well as to inform the policy choice of women judges. Se ha investigado demasiado poco, tanto a nivel regional como nacional, sobre el efecto de que haya juezas que se ocupen de temas de género, sobre todo en África. Este artículo investiga el impacto de juezas en casos seleccionados, basados en género, de Ghana –es decir, casos de derecho de propiedad conyugal. El artículo busca responder a esta pregunta: ¿han marcado la diferencia las mujeres de la judicatura en cuanto a derechos de propiedad conyugal en Ghana? Se realizó un análisis doctrinal de casos seleccionados intencionalmente, y ello llevó a descubrir que no hubo tal diferencia. Esperamos que los hallazgos y recomendaciones recogidos en este artículo ayuden a comprender mejor cómo la participación de las mujeres en el enjuiciamiento de casos basados en género ha podido influir y puede influir potencialmente en los intereses y derechos de las mujeres; y, por otro lado, a informar la elección de políticas de las juezas.