Islamabad: Justice Ayesha Malik is expected to become the first woman judge to be elevated to the country’s highest court in Pakistan’s history.
She has been nominated by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and will be elevated to the apex court after Pakistan’s Judicial Commission meeting on September 9. If confirmed, she will become the first woman in Pakistan ever to hold this office.
She has authored a number of publications and compiled the Supreme Court of Pakistan 1956-2006 Selected Cases published by the Pakistan College of Law.
She studied law at the Pakistan College of Law, Lahore, and completed her LLB from the Harvard Law School Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, where she was named a London H. Gammon Fellow 1998-1999 for outstanding merit.
She worked with Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and Co from 1997 to 2001, where she assisted former chief election commissioner late Fakhruddin Ebrahim.
From 2001 till her appointment as a high court judge, she also served as in-charge of the RIAA firm and led the Corporate and Litigation Department of the firm’s Lahore office.
However, some lawyers have expressed fears that a few bar councils and associations may oppose the move on the question of seniority principle.
Malik’s appointment, if confirmed, would be an important step towards achieving equal participation of women in the legal profession which is crucial for Pakistan. Today, women make up only 14.5 per cent of all judges in Pakistan, according to Women In Law initiative.
Pakistani women from different backgrounds welcomed the news and described it as a “positive and refreshing development”. Beenish Uzair, an assistant superintendent of police, termed it “great news for all the women of Pakistan.” Her appointment can help break the glass ceiling in the judicial system, she wrote on Twitter.
Justice Ayesha A. Malik is fourth on the seniority list of the Lahore High Court. If elevated to the top court, she will remain Supreme Court judge until March 2031.
In January, the Lahore High Court judge Ayesha Malik, in a 30-page detailed judgment, said the two-finger test for sexual abuse survivors was “humiliating” and “had no forensic value” after which the court outlawed the two-finger virginity tests in rape examinations. The decision was highly welcomed by human rights campaigners.
