Elgar Companion to Female Chief Justices in Comparative Perspective

This book investigates the role of female judicial leaders of courts worldwide, by exploring their contributions to constitutional guardianship as well as feminist institutional and jurisprudential change.

Leading scholars outline the origins and significance of the steadily growing number of female chief justices and court presidents across the globe. They provide valuable insights into the conditions that support increased female participation and representation in law and public life, as well as ongoing challenges and barriers. Chapters draw on perspectives from both common and civil law, as well as feminist constitutional theory, covering topics such as judicial responses to democratic backsliding, comparative leadership styles, right-wing female actors in authoritarian regimes, and gendered silences in judicial histories. The book explores the notion of feminist judicial heroines, emphasising the difference between female versus feminist judges.

This book is an exceptional resource for legal scholars and students with interests in gender and feminist dimensions of constitutionalism. It is also an essential read for judges and lawyers interested in the history and future of feminist jurisprudence.