Melissa CROUCH

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has been crucial to the past two decades of reform and has consolidated the shift from authoritarian rule to constitutional democracy. Yet, it was not until 2008 that the first female judge was appointed and since…

Imelda B DEINLA

The fate of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno is emblematic of women’s representation in the highest organ of justice in the Philippines. Justice Sereno made history as the first woman – and the youngest - chief magistrate of the Philippine Supreme Court. She was appointed…

Anna DZIEDZIC

Pacific island states are often left out of comparative studies of constitutions, courts and judges. The invitation to contribute a chapter to Melissa Crouch’s edited volume Women and the Judiciary in the Asia-Pacific provided a welcome opportunity to explore an issue of global importance…

Dinesha SAMARARATNE

What does the study of judicial discretion reveal about advancing gender through adjudication? In the Sri Lanka chapter of Women and the Judiciary in the Asia-Pacific, I argue that in jurisdictions of the Global South, this question cannot be limited to a study of inclusivity of women judges…

Melissa CROUCH

This blog symposium showcases the work of several contributors on women in the courts in the Asia-Pacific, drawing on research in the new publication, Women and the Judiciary in the Asia-Pacific (CUP 2021).

While there is a growing literature on women judges in the Global North…