ISLAMABAD: A report issued by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan on Friday said that currently there are 3,142 judges and judicial officers working across of the country including 2,570 males and 572 females.

Thus the number of female working judges has reached 18 per cent of the total working judges.

The commission has recently released a report that summarises the statistics of females working in the justice sector of Pakistan.

The report further reveals that there are currently 126 judges working at the upper tier of the judiciary, which includes the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court, and five high courts.

Out of total 126 judges, 119 are male, while only seven are female. Therefore, female judges make up only 5.5 per cent of the total working strength of judges at the upper tier.

The report states that there are a total of 3,016 judicial officers working at the district judiciary level. Out of these officers, 2,451 are male and 565 are female – 19 per cent of the total judicial officers are female.

The report also provides district-wise details of the positions held by female judicial officers, highlighting their significant role in the administration of justice.

Besides, the report includes a province-wise list of ex-cadre positions held by female judicial officers.

Furthermore, the report reveals that there are 230,879 lawyers enrolled in different provincial bars in the country.

Out of these, 198,100 lawyers are male, while around 40,000 lawyers are female. It means that female lawyers make up about 17 per cent of the total number of lawyers enrolled.

According to the report, data collected from the prosecution departments reveals that there are currently 2,210 prosecution officers working in the country.

Out of these, 1,869 officers are male and 341 officers are female, indicating that women make up only 15 per cent of the total network strength of prosecution officers.

The report highlights the significant contributions of women in the justice sector of the country but also points out that their representation is not proportional to their share of the overall population.

Therefore, it is recommended that the government and other relevant stakeholders take steps to encourage the inclusion of more females in the justice sector.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024