Pakistan appoints first woman judge to the Supreme Court

Pakistan is set to appoint a female judge to the Supreme Court for the first time in the country’s history, in a move which has been lauded as a win for women’s rights.

Justice Ayesha A Malik, a senior judge of the Lahore High Court, is due to join sixteen other Supreme Court justices at the court when the Judicial Commission of Pakistan meets in September.

Malik was nominated by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, and she will remain in that position until March 2031.

The news has been welcomed by many in Pakistan and across the world, who see it as a step in the right direction for women's rights.

A proud moment for Pakistan 🇵🇰

Justice Ayesha Malik makes history; becomes the first woman to be elevated to the Supreme Court

Hope to see many many more! https://t.co/OGvDkc9az6

— Ayesha Raza Farooq (@AyeshaRaza13) August 13, 2021

Pakistani journalist Maria Memon said the move has broken the glass ceiling.

"Justice Ayesha Malik, a woman in Supreme Court; another glass ceiling being broken. Many more to go," she tweeted.

Pakistani senator Ayesha Raza Farooq also praised the move.

"A proud moment for Pakistan," Farooq said . "Justice Ayesha Malik makes history. Hope to see many many more!"

Malik studied law at the Pakistan College of Law in Lahore and gained a masters degree from the Harvard Law School. She went on to work at a legal firm in Karachi, where she assisted Fakhurddin G Ebrahim from 1997 to 2001.

In March 2012 she became a justice in the Lahore High Court.

Malik is also a women's rights advocate and in 2019 she became the president of the Committee for Protection of Women Judges in Lahore.