Number of female judges and prosecutors in Turkey at its highest

Oya Armutçu - ANKARA

The number of female judges and prosecutors has reached its highest in the past few years, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice.

Out of a total of 20,777 judges and prosecutors on duty, 13,284 are male and 7,493 are female.

The judicial reform strategy paper, unveiled last week by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, set the goal to maintain gender equality in personnel recruitment.

During the appointment of 1,446 judges and prosecutors at a ceremony on May 22, 758 were men and 688, about 47.5 percent, female.  With last month’s appointments, the total number of judges and prosecutors in Turkey rose to 20,777. The total was 13,666 in December 2013 before the coup attempt in 2016. 

The growth in women judges and prosecutors is skyrocketing.

The number of women judges and prosecutors was 2,664 in 2010, it was 3,549 in 2013 and 3,977 in July 2016. Since 2010, the number of female judges and prosecutors has tripled.

While the ratio of women judges and prosecutors was 22.8 percent in 2010, this rate increased to 36 percent with the latest appointments. 

There are relatively more women judges among the female judicial members entering the profession.  Out of the 7, 493 women, 6, 369 of them are judges, while 1,124 are prosecutors.

The number of female judges working in judicial justice is 3,947. Some 460 judges are in the administrative courts, 448 are in the regional courts of justice, and 118 are in the regional administrative courts.

In the Supreme Court, the number of female judges is 718, while the number of women prosecutors is 24.

There are 236 female judges and 13 prosecutors in the Council of State. In the Constitutional Court, there are four women judges. Fourteen of the 207 prosecutors in the Council of Judges and Prosecutors are women, while there are 82 female judges and prosecutors out of 82 at the headquarters of the Ministry.