The glass ceiling at the highest levels of the Spanish judiciary

ABSTRACT

In Spain, the number of female judges at the highest levels of the judiciary is very low, despite the approval of two Strategic Plans for Equality in the Judicial Career (2013 and 2020). This situation does not seem to differ from other European countries, according to the data offered by CEPEJ (2018). It is clear that the end of tokenism has not yet arrived, and for that reason, an analysis of the main probable causes for this glass ceiling is carried out in this paper. A greater effort must be made in order to overcome this situation and achieve a better representation of female judges at the highest levels of the judiciary system.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For more information: www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2019/10/11/campana-contra-cgpj-falta-mujeres-terna-sala-civil-supremo/0003_201910G11P6991.htm; www.publico.es/politica/catedratica-descartada-supremo-favor-registrador-curriculum-inferior.html; and www.infolibre.es/noticias/opinion/plaza_publica/2019/10/05/que_meritos_no_han_tenerse_para_ser_magistrado_del_tribunal_supremo_99343_2003.html.

2 Inter alia, The glass ceiling at the Supreme Court, available at: www.cadenaser.com/ser/2018/03/02/tribunales/1520004269_287107; The ignored presence of women in the judiciary, available at: www.cadenaser.com/ser/2018/03/02/tribunales/1519994779_776674.html; Women only represent the 14 percent in the Supreme Court, available at: www.nuevatribuna.es/articulo/espana/mujeres-solo-ocupan-14-puestos-tribunal-supremo/20180119075531147467.html.

3 The Madrid newspaper said on the 27th march 1971 that Carmen Venero becoming a family judge corresponded to “the characteristics, qualities and aptitudes with which femininity has been millennially adorned”.

4 For more information: www.publico.es/sociedad/mujeres-representan-70-8-jueces-ultima-promocion.html

5 On the one hand, Coontz (2000) wrote that “when asked whether women judges decide cases differently by virtue of being female, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Coyne replied that, in her experience, a wise old man and a wise old woman reach the same conclusion”. On the other hand, Wald (2013) believed that this is not true, and in her opinion, considering that women and men make the same legal decision is actually a myth. Besides, this theory of a different voice should be nuanced. Wilson (1990) said that “there are probably whole areas of the law on which there is no uniquely feminine perspective. This is not to say that the development of the law in these areas has not been influenced by the fact that lawyers and judges have all been men. Rather, the principles and the underlying premises are so firmly entrenched and so fundamentally sound that no good would be achieved by attempting to re-invent the wheel, even if the revised version did have a few more spokes in it. I have in mind areas such as the law of contract, the law of real property, and the law applicable to corporations”. In my opinion, this is not entirely true, because as García Rubio (2014) has shown, some legal categories, including contract and commercial law, do not properly reflect women’s experiences.

6 The difficulty in reconciling family and work life is present in another Judiciaries. Williams and Thames (2008) argued that “we expect that the greater the percentage of women participating in the labor force, and the lower the fertility rate, the higher the political participation of women. (…). Fewer children will also make it easier for women to participate in public life”. Also, Cook (1978) stated that “child-bearing is the traditional female role and earning salaries outside the domestic institution is non-traditional. It is logical that women judges would be more acceptable when and where the populace views the role of women less traditionally. There is a strong relationship between these variables; the higher women's incomes in the state, the more women judges; the lower the birth rate, the more women judges”. Connelly and Hilliard (1993) stated that “the careers of women in the legal profession, as in other areas of employment, are frequently dominated by the responsibilities of parenthood. As a result, many women lawyers experience a broken career path, and part-time and locum work is much more common among women than among men”.

7 cadenaser.com/ser/2018/03/02/tribunales/1519994779_776674.html

8 cadenaser.com/ser/2018/03/02/tribunales/1519994779_776674.html

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, 10.13039/501100008425, grant no. ED481B-2019-039.