As Nigeria joined the rest of the global community to commemorate the International Women Judges’ Day, the National Human Rights Commission said women should be supported to participate in equal terms at all levels, pointing out that with more women in the judiciary, concerns of citizens for fair judgment will be a foregone conclusion.
The Executive Secretary Chief Tony Ojukwu SAN who made this statement on the International Women Judges day in Abuja said that the participation of women in the courts as judges will enhance the legitimacy of the court, added that there was a general perception that women were more transparent in making judgments.
The Learned Silk urged women Judges in Nigeria to continue in their good works, saying their effort will serve as a strong advocacy message that more Women Judges in the judiciary system will make a whole lot of difference in the national growth and development of our jurisprudence.
Ojukwu recalled that the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 which promotes Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls is designed to achieve progress across all the SDGs and to give a gender perspective in all spheres of life.
The Chief Custodian of Human Rights in Nigeria cited the UN General Assembly resolution on April 28, 2021, to proclaim the 10th of March each year as the ‘International Day of Women Judges’ and had enjoined Member states to observe the same, ‘in order to promote the full and equal participation of women at all levels of the judiciary.
At the national level, Ojukwu opined that there was room for improvement in the area of women’s participation in decision-making, be it in the Executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government, saying that the participation of more women in these arms of government will engender confidence in the larger society that there was inclusiveness and non-discrimination, which are the precondition for citizens’ and national development.
Recalling the recent incident where the National Assembly threw out some gender-friendly bills in the ongoing Constitutional Amendment, the NHRC Boss observed that the legislature in this era cannot afford to miss the opportunity to review some of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which tend to be insensitive or bias against the rights of women.
He stated that women’s representation in the Judiciary was important so as to ensure that various levels of court in the county represent the entire citizens, consider their concerns and hand down informed and just decisions.
