Symposium by GQUAL on CEDAW’s GR40: An Opportunity for Asia-Pacific – Build on the Momentum of GR 40

The adoption of General Recommendation 40 by the CEDAW Committee in October 2024 represents a significant milestone in the push for greater representation of women in international decision-making spaces.  

This post will focus on an area that General Recommendation 40 will have an impact: the leadership of women from the Asian region in international justice and accountability. This long-overdue discussion is part of the larger conversation to be had about the democratization of law – particularly international law – by making it more accessible, inclusive, open, and a space for change. Traditionally, international-law making has been the domain of a select few, with voices viewed as different excluded from the space to speak and engage. It is time for this to change.  

The humanization of international law and the agency of individuals are key components of this change, in which everyone should and must be accorded access to and a voice in international law-making, whether in treaty negotiations, international courts, or other decision-making spheres.  

One piece of the puzzle and a focus for us at the Asia Justice Coalition (AJC) is prioritizing the development of women’s professional leadership in international justice and accountability. Women in international law have been at the forefront of advocating for gender equality, women’s rights, and the protection of human rights globally. Despite some progress over the past few decades, globally, women are still not recognized as key actors in the administration of justice, and their equality before the law and in the courts has yet to become a reality in many countries. This is a fundamental matter of access to justice.   

Women continue to face gender bias and barriers in pursuing leadership roles in law. There needs to be a serious and concerted effort to address the root causes, which are multifaceted. These obstacles start from the status of women upon entry into the legal profession, to their barriers in their advancement in the domestic sphere and in the international legal ecosystem. In particular, women in international law and its institutions continue to face entry barriers related to courts and international mechanisms addressing international justice and accountability. This is further compounded across different regions, with women facing additional hurdles to advancement in the legal field. Understanding the cause and effect in all these spheres is crucial to close the gaps. There is no one-size-fit-all solution – it will require sustained and long-term engagement on multiple fronts.  

In order to understand the scale of the problem, one proxy that may be useful, while not perfect, is judicial appointments across countries, which can serve as a measure of the advancement of women within the legal field.  

A quick review of a few countries reveals that the approximate percentages of women in the judiciary ranges from  30% in the U.K, 36% in U.S. federal courts, 12% in the higher judiciary in India, 35.9% in Brazil, and 28% in Singapore. While it is generally understood that law school enrolment has an increasing number of female entrants, what happens along the way in their progression through the legal career path?  

While the statistics at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are better than most, the statistics of  the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are a bit different. Currently, of the fifteen judges, there are four women on the bench for the first time in the court’s history, with the vice-presidency held by one of them. Of the 115 judges, both past and present, only six have been women, with Dame Rosalyn Higgins being the first woman elected to the ICJ in 1995. To put it another way, for the first five decades of this court, until the mid-1990’s, there were NO women on the bench. The recent nomination of Ambassador Rena Lee of Singapore is a significant step in the right direction – and a first for the Asian region.    

The barriers and obstacles to leadership positions in the law – which are compounded in international law – are absolutely central and critical to solving the problem of lack of representation and diversity. These problems also require longer-term solutions to make international law more democratic, diverse, and accessible to women.   

This is a key focus for us at the Asia Justice Coalition. In addition to our efforts on global thematic issues – such as the crimes against humanity convention, mapping universal jurisdiction, participating in Ljubljana – The Hague Convention treaty negotiations, and a focus on international justice and accountability processes in and relevant to Asia – we have also  launched a program of work in 2022 to ensure greater diversity and representation of women in international law, to drive systemic change across Asian jurisdictions, and thus  dismantling barriers to international legal careers and providing greater access and opportunity.   

In Asia, women legal practitioners continue to face significant challenges in legal practice in the domestic legal profession. AJC recognizes three distinct challenges in developing women’s leadership in international law, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. First, there are high levels of gender disparity and harassment in legal practice in the region, and continued gendered assumptions about women’s roles that prevent their advancement in legal spaces. The second challenge is the dual exclusivity of international law, which perpetuates gendered structures.  Disrupting this status quo is necessary, to incorporate both women’s lived experiences and increasing the number of women practitioners. The third challenge is the underutilization of international law and impunity for international crimes in Asia.  

The more opportunities women legal professionals from the Global South have to develop specialized expertise, the more experts there will be in international law, and hence, result in more tailored legal interventions. This, in turn, will increase the likelihood of achieving positive results. By enhancing women’s participation and leadership in international law, we can ensure a more diverse, equitable, and effective global legal system.  

The Women in International Justice and Accountability (WIJA) project of the Asia Justice Coalition is developing women’s leadership in international law by building expertise from the ground up and facilitating constructive dialogue around critical issues of international justice and accountability in three jurisdictions in Asia. We aim to drive this systemic change across Asian jurisdictions, in order to dismantle barriers in international law one step at a time.  

There needs to be a concerted effort to dismantle barriers in international law, and to achieve real and substantial change, that can be sustained in the longer term. Greater diversity and inclusion in international law must become a reality and must not remain an elusive mirage. The adoption of General Recommendation 40 is a powerful tool that we must wield effectively to foster this broader change.