Pakistan Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik receives Justitia Award in Vienna
Pakistan Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik received the International Leader/Lifetime Award at the Justitia Awards 2026 ceremony in Vienna, Austria. The distinction was awarded for her contribution to the development of law and justice, as well as her long-standing work to promote equality, human rights, and the full participation of women in the legal profession and judicial institutions, Dawn reports.
The award was presented before judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals from different jurisdictions. The distinction also draws attention to the importance of women being present in positions where they can influence legal reasoning, institutional practices, and the development of law.
Speech at the conference
During her visit to the Austrian capital, Malik also took part in the Women in Law Conference 2026. She spoke at the session “Roadmap to Equality and Women’s Rights in Practice.”
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The justice spoke about her professional path: in 2012, she was appointed to the Lahore High Court, and in 2022, she became the first woman justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. In her speech, she discussed the challenges and opportunities of working as a woman in the judicial system, as well as the need to take a gender perspective into account in legal reasoning and judicial practice.
Approach to equality
Malik emphasized that the pursuit of equality should not be limited to formal legal guarantees: the circumstances in which women encounter and interact with the law should be taken into account. She also noted that legal principles and judicial institutions must respond effectively to women’s lived experiences and mentioned aspects of her judicial practice concerning dignity, equality, and the treatment of women in the justice system.
Pakistan’s Women in Law initiative called the presentation of the award a source of pride for Pakistan. According to the initiative, Malik became the third Pakistani woman to receive a Justitia Award: in 2023, human rights defender Jalila Haider was honored in the International Game Changer category, while lawyer Nida Usman Chaudhry received the award in the International Academia category.
