Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:44:27.752Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Reframing Feminist Imperatives in Adjudication through a Reading of Sri Lankan Jurisprudence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2021

Melissa Crouch
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Get access

Summary

What does the study of the exercise of judicial discretion by judges reveal about advancing gender through adjudication? In this chapter, the author claims that, in jurisdictions of the Global South, this question cannot be limited to a study of judges or of the exercise of discretion. The focus must extend beyond the study of individual judges and/or their judgments to a study of the system of adjudication, that is to say, the laws, legal institutions and the legal and political culture within which they operate. Nine different emblematic cases involving gender justice that came before Sri Lankan courts are studied. Some of these cases were adjudicated upon by women judges while some were not. The author read the selected jurisprudence from this lens to explain advances and retreats from gender justice in adjudication. She argues that unlike in the Global North, posing the woman question of judges in the Global South, led to misleading answers regarding women’s inclusion and representation in adjudication. The analysis suggests that any link between women judges and gender justice is tenuous. The ways in which the system of adjudication operates, that is the legal institutions, the law and the legal and political culture within which disputes are resolved, better explains the possibilities and limits of gender justice in adjudication.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Primary Sources

Addaraarachchi v. State [2000] 3 Sri LR 393Google Scholar
Addararachchi v. the State [2000] 3 Sri LR 393Google Scholar
Addararatchi v. the Republic HC 7710/96, HC Minutes 22 December 1997Google Scholar
Anthony Fernando v. Sri Lanka, Communication No. 1189/2003, United Nations Human Rights Committee, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/83/D/1189/2003 (2005)Google Scholar
Attorney General v. Bandaranayake SC Appeal 67/2013, SC Minutes 21 February 2014Google Scholar
Attorney General v. Subasinghe HCJ1569/12, HC Minutes 7 October 2015Google Scholar
Attorney General v. Sampath SC Appeal No. 17/2013, SC Minutes 12 March 2015Google Scholar
Bandaranayake v. Speaker of Parliament CA (Writ) 411/2012, CA Minutes 7 January 2013Google Scholar
Decisions of the Supreme Court on Parliamentary Bills 2018Google Scholar
Gallage v. Addararachchi [2002] 1 Sri LR 313Google Scholar
In Re Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill and Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill as reported in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 194(11) 16 November 2010, 1316Google Scholar
Manohari Pelaketiya v. Secy Min of Education SC/FR 76/2012, SC Minutes 28 Sept 2016Google Scholar
SC Reference 3/2012, SC Minutes 1 January 2013Google Scholar
SC Reference No. 03/08 SC Minutes 15 October 2008Google Scholar
Silva v. Bandaranayake [1997] 1 Sri LR 92Google Scholar
Somaratne Rajapakse v. Attorney General [2010] 2 Sri LR 113Google Scholar
Subasinghe v. Attorney General CA 250-252/2015, SC Minutes 10 October 2019Google Scholar
Thenuwara v. Speaker of Parliament SC(FR) 665 – 667 and 672/2012, SC Minutes 24 March 2014Google Scholar
Yogalingam Vijitha v. Wijesekera SC (FR) 186/2001, SC Minutes 23 August 2001Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct 2002Google Scholar
Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1981Google Scholar
Constitution of Sri Lanka 1978Google Scholar
Convention Against Torture Act No. 22 of 1994Google Scholar
Land Development Ordinance No. 19 of 1935Google Scholar
Maternity Benefits Ordinance 1939Google Scholar
Matrimonial Rights and Inheritance (Jaffna) Ordinance of 1911Google Scholar
Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951Google Scholar
Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, No. 13 of 1951Google Scholar
Penal Code of Sri Lanka 1833Google Scholar
Judicial Diversity Initiative, Research Repository (England and Wales) https://judicialdiversityinitiative.org/research (accessed 15 May 2020)Google Scholar
Muslim Personal Law Reforms Action Group https://mplreforms.com (accessed 27 June 2020)Google Scholar
‘Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World by Kumari Jayawardena – Review’ The Guardian, 9 Aug 2017Google Scholar
‘Final Verdict on the Kamal Addararachchi Case’ The Island, 2 June 2002Google Scholar
‘Urgent Structural Reforms Needed to Eliminate Discrimination against Women and Ensure Gender Justice’, Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena The Sunday Times, 13 March 2017Google Scholar
Preliminary Observations and Recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers – Ms. Mónica Pinto Colombo, 7 May 2016Google Scholar
Speech of the Chief Justice Perera at the Ceremonial Sitting of the Supreme Court, 22 October 2018, reproduced at http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/61197Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×