Chicago – December 12, 2023
Delays in getting an outcome in a case are more likely to impact female lawyers than male lawyers, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud observed on Friday.
Longer court battles would be onerous on litigants and that would impact the clientele of female lawyers more than male lawyers, he added.
“The inability to get a timely outcome may impact the practice of a male as well as female lawyer. But everything else being equal, in a society that associates intellect and caliber with gender, the impact of delay will be greater for a woman lawyer, than a male lawyer. She is not only fighting her immediate opponent in court, who perhaps benefits from the delay, but is also combating years of gendered perceptions about her innate ability to be a lawyer,” CJI Chandrachud explained.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the new office premises of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Mumbai.
In his address, the CJI opined that there are several barriers to justice, including social, physical and systemic barriers. However, he noted that good infrastructure is a way to reduce these barriers and ensure that legal disputes are heard effectively and disposed of quickly.
He pointed out that more lawyers were now voluntarily working in tribunals. Therefore, it was crucial for the tribunals and courts to have infrastructure that addressed the demands of the lawyers and the court staff working in such buildings, the CJI said.
