The advice of Justice Chandrachud to law graduates is to incorporate feminist thinking when dealing with law
Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice D Y Chandrachud, on Saturday encouraged young law students to incorporate “feminist thinking” into their approach to law.
Ahead of the convocation of the National Law University (NLU) in New Delhi, Justice Chandrachud urged students to work hard to ensure that the legal profession is more inclusive and accessible.
He advised the gathering that it was particularly important to incorporate feminist thinking when dealing with the law, according to the news agency PTI.
Initially, I viewed the issues where women were often subjected to the worst of crimes and violations from a straightjacketed perspective, however, sitting with a colleague who had more diverse exposure to gender realities provided me with the necessary feminist perspective,” Justice Chandrachud said.
In addition, he noted that everyone, including himself, has much to learn regarding how we perceive law and how we apply social experiences in practice.
Justice Chandrachud acknowledged that women lawyers may find it challenging to work in a male-dominated profession, but noted that times are changing and technology has played an important role in enabling young women’s access to the legal profession.
He pointed out that one of the great learnings from the pandemic was that when our hearings went virtual, the number of women lawyers appearing in court dramatically increased.
Furthermore, he stated that the rule of law does not solely depend on the Constitution or legislation, but also on the political culture and the habits of citizens, particularly young legal professionals who were present at the event.
“In a sense, each of you guards our constitutional and democratic traditions, and it is up to you to ensure the rule of law is not supplanted by the rule of law,” said Justice Chandrachud.
With PTI inputs
