非洲司法中的女性：对14个国家女法官的比较研究 Women in justice in Africa A comparative study of women judges in 14 countries

WomeninjusticeinAfrica

Acomparativestudy

ofwomenjudgesin14countries.

JO

TheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)istheleadingUnitedNationsorganizationfightingtoendtheinjusticeofpoverty,inequality,andclimatechange.Workingwithourbroadnetworkofexpertsandpartnersin170countries,wehelpnationstobuildintegrated,lastingsolutionsforpeopleandplanet.Learnmoreatorfollowat@UNDP.

UNWomenistheUNorganizationdedicatedtogenderequalityandtheempowermentofwomen.Aglobalchampionforwomenandgirls,UNWomenwasestablishedtoaccelerateprogressonmeetingtheirneedsworldwide.Learnmoreatorfollow@UN_Women.

Copyright©UNDP2023Allrightsreserved.

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme.

OneUnitedNationsPlazaNewYork,NY10017,USA

TheUnitedNationsEntityforGenderEqualityandtheEmpowermentofWomen(UNWomen).

220East42ndSt,NewYork,NY10017,USA

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries2

Acknowledgements

ThisstudyispartoftheUNDPandUNWomenGenderJusticePlatform,madepossiblebythegenerouscontributionfromtheGovernmentofTheNetherlandsandTheGovernmentoftheFederalRepublicofGermanytoUNDP’sGlobalProgrammeforStrengtheningtheRuleofLaw,HumanRights,Justiceand

SecurityforSustainablePeaceandDevelopment.

Thestudywasbasedontheresearchdevelopedbytwoindependentconsultants:LuciannaThuoandJ.JarpaDawuni(PhD)fromAugust2021untilNovember2021.

LuciannaThuoisalawlectureratKabarakUniversity,Kenya,andalegalconsultant.ShehaspreviouslyservedintheJudiciaryofKenyaasaresearcherfortheJudiciaryCommitteeonElectionsandthePoliticalPartiesDisputesTribunal.J.JarpaDawuni(PhD)isanassociateprofessorofpoliticalscienceatHowardUniversityinWashington,D.C.,andExecutiveDirectoroftheInstituteforAfricanWomeninLaw.SheistheeditoroffourbooksongenderandjudginginAfricaandhasconsultedwidelyonissuesofwomeninlawandleadershipinAfrica.

Thestudy,basedontheresearchconductedbyJarpaDawuniandLuciannaThuo,wascoordinatedbyRevaiMakanjeAalbaek(UNDP),LorenaMellado(UNDP)andHariwaNegisaAdil(UNDP).ThetexthasbeeneditedbyEvaAllen.

Wewouldliketothankeveryonewhoparticipatedinthecollectionofinformationforthisstudy.ThisincludesUNDPcolleaguesinCountryOfficesinAlgeria,BurkinaFaso,CentralAfricanRepublic,Ethiopia,Kenya,Leso-tho,Malawi,Morocco,Mozambique,Nigeria,SierraLeone,Tanzania,UgandaandZimbabwe,aswellascolleaguesatheadquarters,theRegionalHubforAfrica,theRegionalHubforArabStatesandindividualswithinthejudiciariesoftheselectedcountrieswhosharedtheiradvice,insightsandexperiencessothatthistopiccouldbeexplored.

WewouldliketoacknowledgeJessicaHazelwood(Cordaid),LéahGuyot(Pathfinders),HelenSchwittayMcArthur(InstituteforInspiringChildren’sFutures),HoracioOrtiz(WorldJusticeProject),DanielaBarba(WorldJusticeProject),GraceHulseman(WorldJusticeProject),UNDPcolleaguesandUNWomencolleaguesforreviewingthestudy.

Theviewsexpressedinthispublicationarethoseoftheauthor(s)anddonotnecessarilyrepresentthoseoftheUnitedNations,includingUNDP,ortheUNMemberStates.

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries3

Foreword

TheWomeninjusticeinAfricastudybreaksgroundbyshiningalightontheremarkable

contributionwomenmakeinthefieldofjustice.Thisjourney:ofstrength,determination,sisterhoodandcollectiveaction,issparkingsomethingnew–onewomanatatime.

TheWomeninjusticeinAfricastudybreaksgroundbyshiningalightontheremarkablecontributionwomenmakeinthefieldofjustice.Thisjourney:ofstrength,determination,sisterhoodandcollectiveaction,issparkingsomethingnew–onewomanatatime.

Today,Africahastheworld’slargestnumberofwomenheadingconstitutionalcourtsandactingaschiefjustices.Thishistoricfactcanplayaroleinover-cominggenderinequalityacrossarangeofareas–broadlyinsociety,butalsospecificallywithinthejusticesystem.

Womenhavebecomejudges,headsofjudiciariesandhavetakentheirseatsininternationalcourts,andtheirimpactisvisible.AstudyinKenyashowsthatwomenjudgesinfluencedafeministjurisprudenceinmatrimo-nialpropertyandinheritancedisputes.Ininternationalcriminaltribunals,femalejudgesensuredthatsexualandgender-basedviolencewerenotomitted,butthattheybecamecentralpartsoftheproceedings.

1

Aswelooktowardsamoreequitableandsustainablefuture,genderequalitymustremainattheforefrontofourefforts.UNDP’s

GenderEqualityStrategy

signifiesourunwaveringcommitmenttogenderequalityasafundamentalelementinrealizingsustainabledevel-opmentby2030.Tofurtherthismission,UNDP's

Crisis

Offer

haslaunched

the10-PointActionAgendafor

AdvancingGenderEqualityinCrisisSettings(10PAA)

.Thisambitiousroadmapwillguideourworktowardstransformingandadvancinggenderequalityincrisiscontexts.WerecognizethatthepathtorealizinggenderequalityisintricateandrequirescoordinatedUnitedNationssupport.Forthisreason,UNDPand

UNWomenhaveestablished

GenderJusticePlatform

,whichreflectsourcommitmenttostrategicpartner-shipstoachievegenderjustice.Ourfocusremainsonempoweringwomenandadvancinggenderequalityincrisisanddevelopmentcontextsthroughspecificactionpoints,asdemonstratedinthisstudy.

TheWomeninjusticeinAfricastudychroniclesevidencethatwomenjudgesarelesssusceptibletocorruption,andtheireffectiverepresentationinthejudiciaryincreasestrustinthesystem.Interviewsconductedforthisreportconfirmthepositiveimpactwomen’sparticipationinthejudiciaryhasonconfi-denceininstitutions-oftenperceivedasoutofreachbythosewhomayneedjusticethemost.

However,thereismuchmoreweneedtodo.Thisstudyalsoconfirmsthatveryfewwomenmakeittothetop,andthatwhentheydobecomejudges,harassment,intimidationandbreachesofprivacyarecommonchallengesthattheyface.Thedynamicsbehindthesetestimoniesareasmultifacetedastheyarecomplex–withpervasivegenderstereotypes;legal,religiousandsocialrestrictions,lackofequi-tableaccesstoeducationandopportunitiesbeingsomeofthem.

Politicalwillandproactiveleadershipwithinjudi-ciariesareinstrumentaltoacceleratingprogress;andensuringthatjudiciariesandotherlegalprofes-sionsareatruereflectionofthepopulationintermsofgender,raceandsocioeconomicstatusiskeyforpeople-centredjustice.

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries4

FromAlgeriatoKenya,LesothotoZimbabwe,thetestimonialsinthisstudyofferwisdomonhowtoattainandsustainprogressincludingthroughstrate-gicprogramminginterventionsthatcanincreasethenumberofwomeninjudiciaries,createtheenviron-mentsinwhichtheycanbringtransformativechange;andenablewomentofulfiltheirdutieswiththedignity,respectandtenacitythatisuniquelyfeminine.

UNDPremainscommittedtoworktowardsamoreequitableandjustworldforallbysupportinggenderequalityandaccesstojusticeforwomenandgirlsaroundtheworldinordertoleavenoonebehind.

ShokoNoda

AssistantSecretary-General,

AssistantAdministratorandDirectorCrisisBureau

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)

AhunnaEziakonwa

UNAssistantSecretary-General

AssistantAdministratorandDirector,RegionalBureauforAfrica(RBA)

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)

AbdallahAlDardari

UNAssistantSecretary-General

AssistantAdministratorandDirector,

RegionalBureauforArabStates(RBAS)

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries5

Foreword

Equalrepresentationinthejudiciaryiskeytoensuringthatcourtsadequatelyreflectthe

compositionofsocietyandhanddownsoundjudgments.Themerepresenceofwomenjudges

enhancesthelegitimacyofcourts,sendingapowerfulsignalthattheyareopenandaccessibletoallwhoseekjustice.

Equalrepresentationinthejudiciaryiskeytoensur-ingthatcourtsadequatelyreflectthecompositionofsocietyandhanddownsoundjudgments.Themerepresenceofwomenjudgesenhancesthelegitimacyofcourts,sendingapowerfulsignalthattheyareopenandaccessibletoallwhoseekjustice.Yetinmanyplacesthroughouttheworld,womenremainsignif-icantlyunderrepresentedacrossthejusticechain.

Targetedresearchonwomeninthejudiciarycanhelpustoidentifybarrierstoentry,aswellasgoodpracticesandlessonslearnedtoadvancewomeninjusticesystems.WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acompar-ativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countriespresentsqualitativeandquantitativelearningsandlessonsforimprovingwomen’srepresentationindifferentcontexts.

Theresearchisasignificantadditiontothe

Gender

JusticePlatform

,ajointcollaborationbetweenUNWomenandUNDPtobridgethegenderjusticegap,empowerwomen,anddismantleobstaclestotheirabilitytoaccessjustice,aswellastoparticipateintheexecutionofmandatesofruleoflawinstitutions.

ThecollaborationbetweenUNWomenandUNDPisanexcellentcomplementtoUNWomen’songoingworkinsupportofincreasingwomen’spresenceinthejudiciary.InTanzaniaforinstance,UNWomenrecently

assistedtheTanzaniaWomenJudgesAssociationtoproducethecountry’sfirst

GenderBenchBookon

Women’sRights

.ThisBenchBookiscurrentlyservingasanaccessible,user-friendlyreferenceguideonprotectingtherightsofwomenandgirlsforjudi-cialofficers.

UNWomenalsoprovidessupporttointernationalcourts,aswellasdedicatedgenderadviserstotribu-nalsandtruthcommissionsaroundtheworld.In2023,UNWomensupportedtherevisionoftheOfficeoftheProsecutorattheInternationalCriminalCourt’spolicyonsexualandgender-basedcrimes.

Byinvestinginwomen’sparticipationinthejusticesector,wenotonlyensurethatregionalandglobalnormsandstandards,suchasthosereflectedintheConventionontheEliminationofAllFormsofDiscrim-ination(CEDAW),areappliedintheappointmentandpromotionofwomen,butalsothatthesenormsandstandardsareutilizedinthedeliveryofjustice.Throughthelearningsandinsightsfromthisstudy,weareallthemorestrengthenedinourmissiontoenhancewomen’sparticipationinthejusticesector.

Ourhopeisthatthisreportcanserveasanaccel-erator,spotlightingthattoachievejustice,weneedmorewomenatalllevelsofleadershipacrossthejusticechain.Itconfirmsthatthiswillonlycontrib-utetomakingourjusticeinstitutionsmoreindepend-ent,accessibleandgendersensitive.UNWomenwillcontinuetosupportthisefforttowardsnotonlyclosingthejusticegapinappointmentstothebench,butalsoensuringthatthejusticeneedsofwomenandothermarginalizedandexcludedgroupsareadequatelyaddressed.

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries6

Tableofcontents

Acknowledgements3

Foreword4

Acronyms

8

Definitionsandterminology

9

Executivesummary1

1

1.Contextualizingtheimportanceofwomen’sparticipationinthejusticesector13

1.1Purposeandapproachofthestudy13

Purposeofthestudy15

Background16

Internationalnormativeframework16

Methodology17

1.2Whywomen’srepresentationinjudiciariesmatters21

2.Dataanalysisonwomen’srepresentationinjudiciariesinthestudycountries24

2.1Datatrends24

3.Barrierstowomen’smeaningfulparticipationinjudiciariesinthestudycountries30

3.1Barriersforwomentoenterthejudiciary31

3.2Barriersforwomentoberetainedinthejudiciary35

3.3Barriersforwomentobepromotedinthejudiciary3

8

4.Lessonslearnedandgoodpracticesonwomen’smeaningfulparticipationinjudiciaries44

4.1Lessonslearned4

4

4.2Goodpracticesonwomen’smeaningfulparticipationinjudiciaries46

5.Recommendationsonimprovingwomen’srepresentationinthejudiciary48

5.1Generalrecommendations48

5.2Specificcountryrecommendations5

2

Endnotes55A

nnexes

60

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries7

Acronyms

ACHPRAfricanCharteronHumanandPeoples’Rights

CEDAW

ConventionontheEliminationofallFormsofDiscriminationagainstWomen

CIJ

CustomaryandInformalJusticeMechanisms

FIDA

InternationalFederationofWomenLawyers

IAWL

InstituteforAfricanWomeninLaw

ICESCR

InternationalCovenantonEconomic,SocialandCulturalRights

ICJ

InternationalCommissionofJurists

ICCPR

InternationalCovenantonCivilandPoliticalRights

IDLO

InternationalDevelopmentLawOrganization

JSC

JudicialServiceCommission

KWJA

KenyaWomenJudgesAssociation

NGEC

NationalGenderandEqualityCommission

SDGs

SustainableDevelopmentGoals

TAWJA

TanzaniaWomenJudgesAssociation

UMAWJ

UnionofMoroccanWomenJudges

UNDP

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme

UNESCWA

UnitedNationsEconomicandSocialCommitteeforWesternAsia

UNWomen

UnitedNationsEntityforGenderEqualityandtheEmpowermentofWomen

WPS

Women,peaceandsecurity(WPS)agenda

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries8

Definitionandterminology

Baseline

Ananalysisofthestartingpointforaprojectorstudy,whichprovidesabenchmarkagainstwhichfutureprogresscanbeevaluatedandcomparisonsdrawn.

Courts

Formaljusticesystemsincludingfirstinstance,admin-istrative,appellateandapexcourtsofeachcountryunderstudy.Insomecountries,datawasavailedforspecializedcourtssuchascommercialcourts.ForcountrieswhereSharialawisapplicabletodealwithpersonalstatuslaws,thecourtstructuresincludeShariaorKadhi’sCourtsdependingonthenomen-clatureusedinthecountry.

FederalState

Statesinwhichpowerissharedbetweentwolevelsofgovernment:thefederalgovernmentandstategovernment,andeachlevelofgovernmenthasitsowncourtsystems.Statecourtshavegeneraljuris-dictionandinterpretstatelawswhileensuringthatfederalpoweriskeptincheckwhilefederalcourtsaregenerallyresponsiblefordisputesinvolvingthefederallaw,interstatedisputesordisputeswithforeigngovernments.

Judges

Judicialofficersservinginthecourtsofsuperiorjuris-dictionofacountrysuchashighcourtsandcourtsofequalstatus,appellatecourts,cassationcourts,apexcourtssuchasconstitutionalcourtsorsupremecourts,aswellasadministrativecourts.Forthepurposesofthisreport,judgesandmagistratesareconsideredunderthesamecategoryasofficerswhositandhearcasesandrenderdecisions,acknowledgingthatbothroleshavedifferencesparticularlyinrelationtotheirprofessionaltraining,andtheirjudicialauthoritytocoverspecificmatters.Thisdefinitiondoesnotincludeprosecutors,membersoftribunalsorjudicialofficersservingininformalcourtsystems.

Judiciary/Judiciaries

Theroleofthejudiciaryistohearanddecidelegalcasesbasedonthelawandlegalprecedent.Inthisreportjudges,magistratesandjudiciaryhavebeenusedinterchangeablyreferringtopeoplewhositandhearcasesandrenderdecisions.

Kadhi’sCourts

SpecializedcourtswhichdealwithmattersofSharialaw.Thesecourtshavejurisdictionoverpersonalmatterssuchasmarriage,divorce,inheritance,andotherdisputes.Kadhi’sCourtsarepresidedoverbyaKadhi,whoisajudgetrainedinIslamiclawandappointedbythegovernment.

Legaltradition

Acountry’ssetofhistoricallyconditionedattitudesaboutthenatureandroleoflaw,theorganizationandoperationofitslegalsystemandhowthelawiscreated,applied,studiedandtaught.Acountry’slegaltraditionisclassifiedbyreferencetoitssourcesoflaw,itshistoricalbackground,itscharacteristicmodeofthoughtandtheroleofjudgesandlawyerswithinthesystem.

ShariaLaw

SharialawisalegalframeworkderivedfromtheQur’anandthesayingsandpracticesoftheProphetMuhammadthatcoversallaspectsoflife,includingpersonalconduct,familymatters,businesstransac-tionsandcriminaljustice.

ShariaCourts

AShariacourtisalegalbodythatoperatesundertheprinciplesofSharialaw.ShariacourtsaretypicallyfoundincountrieswithsignificantMuslimpopulations,andtheirauthoritymayvarydependingonthelegalsystemofthecountryinwhichtheyoperate.

ShariaLaw

SharialawisalegalframeworkderivedfromtheQur’anandthesayingsandpracticesoftheProphetMuhammadthatcoversallaspectsoflife,includingpersonalconduct,familymatters,businesstransac-tionsandcriminaljustice.

Womeninleadership

Forthepurposesofthisstudy,womeninleader-shipreferstowomenatthehighestpositionwithinaparticularcourtwithdecision-makingauthority,includ-inginjudicialandadministrativeleadershippositions.Theseincludeheadofcourtse.g.chiefjustices/deputychiefjusticesorheadoftheconstitutionalcourtaswellasadministrativeheadssuchasregistrarsof

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries9

courtsandheadsofcourtstations.Courtregistrarswerenotincludedinthisreportasdatawerenotavail-ablefromallcountries.

Women’smeaningfulparticipation

Women’smeaningfulparticipationreferstotheactiveengagementandinvolvementofwomenindecision-makingprocessesoractivitiesthataffectthemandthebroaderdevelopmentlandscape.Thisisbothaprocessandanoutcomerelatedtowomen'sengagementinpolitical,social,economicandotherrealmsandrelatestothequalityandeffectivenessoftheirroletoinfluencedecisionsandprocesses.

Qualitativedata

Referstonon-numericaldatathatiscollectedthroughobservations,interviewsandopen-endedsurveys.Itinvolvesthecollectionofdescriptiveandsubjec-tiveinformationthatcannotbeeasilymeasuredorexpressedinnumericalterms.

Quantitativedata

Referstonumericaldatathatcanbemeasuredandexpressedintermsofnumbersorquantities.

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries10

Executivesummary

ThisexplorativestudyontherepresentationofwomeninjudiciariesatdifferentlevelsofcourtsystemsinselectcountriesinAfricaformsanimportantpartoftheinnovativestrategicalliancebetweenUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)andUNWomenunderthe

GenderJusticePlatform.

Thetwoagenciescontributetowardsclosingthejusticegapforwomenandgirls,specificallyincrisisandconflict-affectedcountriesortransitionalsettings.Thispartnershipstrivestoenhanceprogrammaticeffortsinthefieldofwomen’saccesstojusticeandthelegalempowermentofwomen.

Thestudyincludesatotalof14countriesandcomprisesbothqualitativeandquantitativesections.Whilethequantitativesectionexamines10countries,thequalitativesectioncovers13,withvaryingcountryrepresentationineachsection.

Thequantitativesectionofthereportestablishesabaselineontherepresentationofwomeninthejudi-ciaryinAlgeria,BurkinaFaso,Ethiopia,Kenya,Leso-tho,Morocco,Mozambique,Nigeria,SierraLeoneandZimbabwe.Thisbaselineresearchassessedthestateofwomen’srepresentationinthejudiciaries,thenumberofwomenactivelyworkingasjudgesandthetypesofformalcourtsinwhichtheyareactivelyrepresented.Theresearchsoughttoidentifythelevelofcourtsinwhichwomenarerepresentedaswellastheirthematicmandates.

Asdetailedinthesectionofthereportonchallenges(seeMethodologybelow),thestudyfocusessolelyonformalcourtsforwhichdatawasavailable.

Inthe10countriescoveredinthequantitativepartofthestudy,womenaccountfor4,619judgesandmagistrates,comparedto6,988men.Assuch,womenjudgesrepresentonly40percentofthetotalnumberofjudgesreportedinthestudy.Thefourcountrieswherewomenmakeupmorethan50percentofthejudiciaries(Algeria,Kenya,LesothoandZimbabwe)maybecompensatingforthecountrieswheredatasuggeststhatwomenmakeuplessthan30percentofthejudiciaries(BurkinaFaso,Morocco,NigeriaandSierraLeone).

Thepatternofwomen’srepresentationinthecoun-triescoveredinthisreportconfirmsthefindingsofotherglobalstudieswhichshowthatwomenareoftenlocatedheavilyinlowercourts.Whenitcomestorepresentationofwomeninleadership,thestudyconfirmsthatthereisanoverallpaucityofwomeninleadershippositionsinjudiciariesinthecountriesstudied.However,whenthenumbersofwomeninleadershiparedisaggregatedbytypeofcourt,thepercentageofwomeninleadershippositionsappearstocorrelatewiththeoverallnumberofwomeninthecourt.Basedonthedatapresentedandusingtheexperiencesofthe10countriesasproxy,itisclear

thatthegendergapinrepresentationiswideandthatgenderinequalitiesexistparticularlyinjudicialleader-shippositions.Thepositiveexamplesofhighwomen’srepresentationinleadershippositionsinthejudiciar-iesinKenya,LesothoandZimbabwedemonstratetheimportanceandeffectofinitiativesthatpromotethegeneralincreaseintheparticipationofwomeninthejusticesectormorebroadly.

Thequalitativeanalysissectionreviewsthebarri-ersthatlimitwomenfromenteringthejudiciary,thechallengesthattheyfaceoncetheyareinthejudi-ciaryandtheimpedimentstotheirpromotionwithinthejudiciary.Thebiggestbarriersidentifiedtoentryintothejudiciarywereeithersocietal(suchasnega-tivesocialnorms,genderstereotypesandattitudes),orinstitutional(suchasdiscriminatoryrecruitmentprocesses),duetothelackofanenablingenviron-ment(nolegaldirectivesorpolicyforinclusionormentoring)orbecauseeffortstoretainwomenwereweak.Thebarrierstotheretentionofwomeninthe

judiciarywerefoundtoincludethelackofwork-fam-ilybalance,harassment,securityconcerns,intimida-tionandgenderedcriticism,limitedmentorshipanddiscrimination.Thebarrierstopromotioncitedincludelegalbarriers(theselection/promotionprocessandthecriteriaforpromotion),institutionalbarriers(insti-tutionalpoliciesontransfersandpromotions,lackofsupportwhenseekingpromotion)andindividualandsocietalbarriers(lackofpoliticalwill,negativepercep-tions,lackoflegalandpoliticalnetworks).

WomeninjusticeinAfrica:Acomparativestudyofwomenjudgesin14countries11

Thefindingsareconsistentwithotherstudiesandglobaltrendsastheyrelatetotherepresentationofwomeninthehighercourtsandinleadership.Women’srepresentationremainslowandisunlikelytoimprovewithouttargetedinterventions.

2

ThisisdespitethefactthatsixofthecountriesstudiedinthequantitativeanalysishavehadwomenserveeitheraschiefjusticesorasheadoftheConstitutionalCourt:Ethiopia,Kenya,Lesotho,Mozambique,NigeriaandSierraLeone.

3

Thereportthenshareslessonslearnedandgoodpracticeswherewomenarebetterrepresentedinthejudiciaryorwherewomenaresupportedtoenterorberetai