Female under-representation in higher courts won’t fix itself, study shows

Sol Dolor of NZ Lawyer writes:

The study, Gender Ratio of Counsel Appearing in Higher Courts, was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation and carried out by the New Zealand Bar Association (NZBA). It showed that female barristers or solicitors made up 27% of lead counsel appearances before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for the years 2012 to 2017. When Crown Law data is excluded, the figure dropped to 16%. The results were worse than anticipated, said co-authors Jenny Cooper QC and Gretta Schumacher, who are members of the NZBA council.
The findings stand in contrast to data showing roughly equal numbers of female and male lawyers practicing in the New Zealand.
This demonstrates the fallacy of the argument that it is just a matter of time and gender inequality will take care of itself. Active measures are needed to overcome entrenched attitudes that deprive women of opportunities to prove themselves as advocates.”
https://www.nzlawyermagazine.co.nz/news/female-underrepresentation-in-higher-courts-wont-fix-itself-study-shows-254561.aspx

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