Many years ago when I was co-writing a book on Women and War, I decided that having a female judge write the foreward was a great start to this important topic. As I reflected and reviewed the landscape, I realized there were a number of amazing women making huge contributions as judges, sitting on the benches in places such as the International Court of Justice – how can you not admire the works of Justice Rosalyn Higgins? – or the ad hoc tribunals, such as the impressive Judge Florence Mumba.
In the end, I was honored to have the former president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former judge at the International Criminal Court, Justice Navanethem Pillay, as the author of the foreward. She wrote, with elegance and passion, a short piece about the importance of recognizing and embracing the “multi-facets of womanhood in the advancement of international humanitarian law”. With a career that spanned from a judge to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, from a young, female and non-white lawyer struggling to open her own law practice to the first non-white woman on the High Court of South Africa – I am inspired by her work and her words. Thank you, Justice Pillay.
To extend yesterday’s celebration of International Women’s Day, I thought it was an appropriate time for ICRC’s Humanitarian Law & Policy blog to celebrate and appreciate our favorite female judges.
Write to us in the comments section below and let us know yours.
Thanks for starting this fascinating list of accolades, Helen! I would like to add to the impressive group you’ve already started by honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose tireless and unrivaled work on the United States Supreme Court the last three decades was my main motivation for going to law school. Against a backdrop of serious personal and health struggles, she has provided a near-constant light of hope during some troubling judicial times. At a tiny 5-foot-1, she is someone you still have no choice but to look up to.
RBG as well, including for her work on gender equality before she joined the USSC. I was happy to see her write the dissent two weeks ago when the court decided in favor of the border agent who murdered Sergio Adrián Hernández.
Thank you Andres! Long live the Notorious RBG.
I most admire the African female judges at these courts, if only for representation. As an International Criminal Law practitioner in a field very much geographically and gender underrepresented, my favorites are Judge Sebutinde (former SCSL, current ICJ), Judge Ibanda-Nahamya (IRMCT), Judge Balungi Bossa (ICC) and Judge Alapini-Gansou (ICC). I will have to mention Judge Kim Prost as well because how can you not.
Yes, thank you Judy! Please ask your friends to chime in with their opinions as well. I hadn’t hear of Judge Ibanda-Nahamya and look forward to looking her up. Thanks for reading, and happy International Women’s Day.
Not a judge, but my vote goes to Lea Tsemel the 75 year old jewish lawyer who defends Palestinian suspects in israeli courts (and usually loses, thus she calls herself the “losing lawyer”). She and her family face death threats and intimidation, but she steadfastly continues a pursuit of true justice. We need more Tsemels in the world.
Yes, I couldn’t more Clare. Thanks for reading, and happy IWD!
I’m going to cheat and pick an example from the ancient world to show that a woman’s place has *always* been in the court room. One of the oldest depictions of a female judge is Themis, the Greek goddess of law, order and equity. Similar to the Roman Justitia, Themis is a pre-cursor to the “Lady Justice” we know today. She carried a sword (to cut fact from falsehood) and a scale (to set the balance of justice). The blindfold came much later. Her family history shows the importance society placed on the law. Born a Titan, the daughter of Heaven and Earth, her children were Justice, Peace, Good Order (what a name!) and the Fates. She taught humankind about law, custom and morality and, like so many of the other judges mentioned, was a force of nature!
Excellent, love it. Thank Ellen!
Dear Helen, thank you for mentioning Dame Rosalyn Higgins, no list of inspiring women judges would be complete without her! She was the first woman elected to the International Court of Justice, and its first woman president. I had the privilege and honour to have Rosalyn Higgins as my LLM supervisor at the LSE in 1994-95. Her brilliance as a scholar and lawyer, her gift as a teacher and mentor, and her passion for international law and human rights (she served on the UN Human Rights Committee for many years) inspired all of her students, and motivated me to pursue a career in international law, which eventually led me to the ICRC.
Hi Kathleen, thank you so much for sharing your story- your path seems to give us all yet another reason to be thankful for Rosalyn Higgins!
Carla Del Ponte definitely merits a place on this list. She dedicated her entire career to fight against impunity, be it when prosecuting criminal groups as Swiss Attorney General or seeking justice for victims of war crimes as prosecutor for the ICTY and ICTR.
Absolutely- thank you, Nicole!
Wholeheartedly seconding Pillay and Del Ponte!
Not a judge (joining that bandwagon too), but I personally have serious respect and admiration for Fatou Bensouda. Since she took office, she has tackled no short list of difficult situations and cases.
Check out the “women profiles” published in 2017 by the International Commission of Jurists (where I worked before joining the ICRC), short portraits of women judges and lawyers.
https://www.icj.org/search/?fwp_search=women+profiles&submit=Search
I admire many of them, who are giants in their field. And Karinna Moskalenko – crazy, wonderful and courageous Karinna – has a special place in my heart.
Great list Cordula- many thanks for sharing!
Thanks Helen for drawing attention to the work of women judges. I would like to mention Gabrielle McIntyre who, though not a judge, has made important contributions to IHL and ICL, particularly with a view to sexual violence, and inspired many young women (and I am privileged to consider myself one of those).
Dame Silvia Cartwright is a fellow New Zealander and a great judge – both in New Zealand (first woman appointed to the High Court in 1993) and on the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia. I had the privilege of meeting her at a conference on crimes against humanity and she was so down to earth she invited me to “drop by” if I was ever in her town (near mine) in New Zealand!
I hope everything is find when the women contribute something in what the men are doing, world without women
things will not go on well, therefore I myself I encourage you women of today to work hard than men because most of the men are not fair in their work, and thank you women on the women day.