Justice Mario V. Lopez (front row, sixth from left), Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez (second row, sixth from left), Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr. (second row, fifth from left), Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh (second row, seventh from left), and the other participants of the two-day of the Bangkok Regional Consultation on the Adoption of the Bangkok General Guidance for Judges on Applying a Gender Perspective in South and Southeast Asia (BGG) pose for posterity during the first day of the dialogue on March 18, 2023. With them is Philippine Judicial Academy Chancellor Emeritus and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna (front row, seventh from left), one of the commissioners of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the convenor of the regional judicial dialogue.
The BGG was published by the ICJ in 2016 and subsequently updated in 2022 to assist judges and other justice sector actors to incorporate a gender perspective in their work. It aims to make Justices and judges mindful of the means to appreciate evidence without resorting to gender stereotypes and to decide cases based on the principle of equality recognized under international human rights standards, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW.
The Supreme Court Justices took part in extensive discussions with their fellow jurists from South Asian and Southeast Asian countries on how to best incorporate a gender perspective in adjudicating cases before them. Justice Marquez spoke on the strategy of the Philippine Judiciary on how the BGG can be incorporated into domestic practice; Justice Kho acted as commentator on the session regarding gender and climate justice; and Justice Singh presented the Philippine perspective on the response to the challenges faced by women in the country. (Photo courtesy of the International Commission of Jurists; Caption courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)