Gender and Judging in Portugal: Opinions and Perceptions

• Main Authors: Madalena Duarte, Ana Oliveira, Paula Fernando
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2016-09-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Legal professions; women; gender and judging; professional identity; Profesiones jurÃ-dicas; mujeres; género y justicia; identidad profesional
• Online Access: http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/523

<p>In Portugal, the phenomenon of feminization of the legal professions is quite recent compared to other countries. The increasing predominance of women among magistrates &ndash; judges and public prosecutors &ndash; since 2006 has been overwhelming though. If, until 1974, the judiciary was forbidden to women, in 2015, from a total of 1990 judges in first instance courts, Appeal Courts and the Judicial Supreme Court and the Administrative Supreme Court, 1175 were women (59%). Within the Public Prosecution, 61% were women. The weight of women in the legal professions is visible, even, at the Centre for Judicial Studies, where 67,5% of the justice auditors, in 2014, were women. In this scenario, the aim of this article is to discuss the representations of the legal professionals, on the repercussions of this change to the judiciary and to the legal culture in Portugal.</p> <hr /><p>En Portugal, el fen&oacute;meno de la feminizaci&oacute;n de las profesiones jur&iacute;dicas es bastante reciente en comparaci&oacute;n con otros pa&iacute;ses. Sin embargo, el creciente predominio de mujeres entre los magistrados -jueces y fiscales- desde el a&ntilde;o 2006 ha sido abrumador. Si, hasta 1974, las mujeres ten&iacute;an prohibido el acceso al poder judicial, en 2015, de un total de 1990 jueces en los tribunales de primera instancia, tribunales de apelaci&oacute;n y la Corte Suprema de Justicia y el Tribunal Supremo Administrativo, 1175 eran mujeres (59%). Dentro de la fiscal&iacute;a, el 61% eran mujeres. El peso de las mujeres en las profesiones jur&iacute;dicas es visible, incluso, en el Centro de Estudios Judiciales, donde el 67,5% de los auditores de justicia, en 2014, eran mujeres. En este escenario, el objetivo de este art&iacute;culo es analizar las representaciones de los profesionales del derecho sobre las consecuencias de este cambio en el poder judicial y en la cultura jur&iacute;dica de Portugal.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2831939" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2831939</a></p>