Eliška Wagnerová

Women and men inspiring Europe resource-pool

Šalis: Czechia

Publication date:

25 Sausis 2013

Women are needed as both judges and senators because they bring women´s experience, and they better understand the problems that women either face in the judiciary systems, or due to certain laws. Women´s experience is different to men's, which means that their experiences needs to be also taken into consideration. There are women in judiciary posts, especially within the lower courts, but not in legislature posts, where there is shortage of them.

Eliška Wagnerová is one of the most successful judges in the Czech Republic. She is also is one of the most recognized professionals in the field of constitutional law, fundamental rights and freedoms and human rights. She serves as a role model for other judges and law students as she managed to overcome those obstacles and become the first women to serve as the President of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, from 1998 - 2002. In 2002, she was named the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court where she served until 2012.

In her rulings, she has been a strong proponent of social justice, human rights and equal opportunities for all citizens. She has always supported transparency of the court's decision-making and rulings. She is a strong supporter of gender equality and believes more women in politics and decision making are needed. Recently, she has also called for an expert discussion on home births and for women’s right for private life by ensuring their access to lawful home births. In 2009, she was awarded the Silver Medal of Antonin Randa.

In March 2012 she announced her candidacy in the Senate election.She now serves in this capacity.

Additional Information:

The majority of judges in the Czech Republic are women (currently 65 %). However, many of them still face obstacles when developing their career in judiciary, gender stereotypes being one of them. Glass ceiling still persists in the Czech judicial system - 38 % of all presidents of district courts are women while the representation of women among presidents of regional courts is only 13 %.