Armenian women judges: providers of justice

The Project ''Support to the judicial reform – enhancing the independence and professionalism of the judiciary in Armenia'' funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance (PGG) started in 2019. One of the important components of the Project is the promotion of gender equality within Armenian judiciary. The composition of the judiciary must reflect the composition of society if it is to be perceived as legitimate and capable of delivering equal justice and upholding equality before the law. Judges should ensure a balanced approach for enforcing the law and equality, which in turn builds public trust and confidence in the judiciary. It is obvious, that increased diversity within a judiciary enables the judiciary as a whole to better respond to diverse social and individual contexts. The Project provides its support to ensure that Armenian women judges are empowered to fight gender based stereotypes and are fully engaged in the administration of justice in Armenia.

Many countries across the globe continue to see women underrepresented in the judiciary. However, having women on the bench presents clear advantages to justice systems. The Council of Europe’s position is very clear: closing the gender gap in the justice sector is essential if institutions are to be truly effective, inclusive and accountable.

“Within the framework of the project, a section has been established in 2019 within the Association of Armenian judges, which especially focuses on the issues related to women judges”, said Nora Karapetyan, Head of the section.

The section was established with the view to set up a fully fledged Association that would work with women judges to respond to the challenges they are facing in their everyday work, such as the gender gap in leadership positions, which is a hindrance for women’s full and equal participation in the judiciary.

Moreover, the project contributed to the awareness raising and an exchange of international experience of Armenian women judges. “Particularly, a group of judges from Armenia participated in the international conferences in Buenos Aires in 2018 and in Madrid in 2019”, Karapetyan stated.

“I made a presentation, and while I was preparing the report, I studied the situation in the world, and made a comparative analysis, which showed that the issues that Armenian women judges face are mostly similar to those around the globe”, she said.

Karapetyan added that first and foremost, the issues concern representation of women in the judicial system with the tendency of decrease in number of women depending on the level of the judicial body. “Overall, women occupy approximately 20 percent of all judges in Armenia. The higher the court, the lower is the number of female judges”, she said.

The situation echoed with similar situations in almost all Council of Europe member States, when there is a decrease in the percentage of female judges as we move up in the judicial hierarchy. The pathways for judicial promotion are usually being blocked by unseen obstacles, including gender biases.

Karapetyan told that, generally, fewer women conduct criminal cases, and women judges mostly work in the court of first instance and are conducting the cases related to family and civil law issues.

Karapetyan’s observation is only one example, which reflects stereotypical and sexist views that women working in the judicial system have to face.

“As for the cassation court in Armenia, there were three candidates to the position of the president, and all of them were men”, Karapetyan said. “There has never been a woman president of the Court of Cassation in the history of Armenia”, she said. “However, at the moment, there is an exceptional situation with two women recently elected as the heads of two chambers of the Cassation Court”. Having women judges for these top-ranking judicial positions sends a strong message to the society in general and is a good step in cultural shift of perceiving the image of the judge.

“When you see similar issues in other countries, it is very useful to know what methods were used to solve them and what approaches and ways were the most effective”, she said.

Internationally, women are nominated to the positions of the Supreme Court Council by quotas, Karapetyan mentioned. In Armenia, however, there is not such practice, and the Supreme Judicial Council - which plays an important role in the appointment and dismissal of judges, consists mostly of men with only one woman as its member.

She emphasised that this is a real gap, as the experience demonstrates that in the decision-making process, the participation of women contributes to the effectiveness of the work of the judicial body.

“Initially, if you have blank experience in the field, you take the situation for granted and do not notice the limits”, said Karapetyan. “Meanwhile, being armed with the international experience, helps you clearly see the gaps and issues”. This is the reason the project put so much importance in international networking opportunities for Armenian women judges with the aim to arm them with the best international practices․

Women judges expand the borders of justice

“More women more justice” was a motto of the “Justice with Gender perspective” international conference in Madrid in 2019. The aim of the conference was to highlight how important women’s full participation to the judicial system is and to advance the position of women in judiciary. Some see that women have even more of an edge: “The ideology behind the motto implied that in principal women can judge much better than men do”, said Ani Harutyunyan, a judge of the Administrative Court, who participated in the conference.

She told that the conference helped to understand that basically, women judges around the world face all the same problems, which mainly are associated with the underestimation of the role of women in the judiciary.

Harutyunyan sees that women are more capable to handle family law cases due to their traditional roles in society. “Women may use their own experience to help them to bring a fairer verdict”, she says. On the other hand, these stereotypical roles that women have in society also hinder women’s advancement in the judicial system and the Council of Europe project aims to combat restricting stereotypes and advance gender equality and women’s role in the judicial system.

At the same time, with a clear vision that more women in the judiciary and the legal systems will improve the effectiveness of the institution and generate public confidence, the Council of Europe is ready to continue supporting Armenian authorities to undertake proactive steps for the encouragement and advancement of women’s equal representation.