TPWPJ1206 | The Politics of Women’s’ Presence in the Judiciary

The course is an optional elective that seeks to understand the role the identity of the woman plays within the space of the courtroom. The woman herein is specifically being seen as one who has a voice/ „presence‟ within the courtroom- thus being typified by the category of the woman judge and the woman lawyer. The recent past has seen sustained call for greater representation within the judiciary. Indeed, the former Chief Justice of India- N. V Ramana, on the occasion of the appointment of nine women judges to the Supreme Court, remarked that „women of the world must unite because they have nothing to lose but their chains‟. He suggested that women lawyers must, „shout with anger and demand 50% reservation‟, as a matter of right and not charity. Clearly, representation is increasingly becoming a pressing issue within the judiciary. It is against this grain that the course seeks to navigate the role politics of presence plays in the socio-cultural-legal space. In doing so, the course seeks to acquaint students to the broad contours of feminist legal scholarship that has taken place in the recent past- specifically with the intention to understand if the gender of the judge/lawyer has an impact on the kind of decisions being made as well as the arguments that are presented.

Describe how you have approached the course. What have you included/excluded and why? Choice of materials: primary or secondary readings / case law;

The course seeks to essentially introduce students to the theoretical aspects of the politics of presence in particular and identity politics in general. As such the thrust of the course would in the first few weeks be on journal articles and books. After getting acquainted with the literature around presence, specifically from the lens of the woman judge and the woman lawyer, the course would devolve into critically analysing certain key judgements to assess whether presence truly makes a difference.

Describe your peda