Justice Ayesha A. Malik of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been awarded the Justitia Award 2026 in the International Leaders/Lifetime Achievement category, presented at the Justitia Awards Gala in Vienna on 11 September 2026. The award was conferred as part of the seventh Women in Law Conference, held in the Austrian capital from 10 to 12 September 2026.
The Justitia Awards are presented annually by the Women in Law Initiative, an Austria based network that connects female legal professionals and their allies across the globe. The International Leaders/Lifetime Achievement category recognises what the organisers describe as the most talented and impactful women in the legal professions, honouring a nominee who demonstrates excellence as the most innovative and groundbreaking lifetime achiever in the field. Justice Malik was shortlisted for the honour alongside I. Stephanie Boyce, former President of the Law Society of England and Wales, and Sandra Yamate, before being named the recipient at the gala.
Justice Malik made history in January 2022 when she became the first woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, having previously served on the Lahore High Court from 2012 to 2022. Her jurisprudence has centred on gender equality and human rights, including rulings declaring virginity testing unconstitutional and redefining the legal understanding of consent, judgments that have reshaped how Pakistan’s criminal justice system treats survivors of sexual violence. In 2025, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of London, presented by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.
At this year’s conference, Justice Malik also spoke at the session Roadmap to Equality and Women’s Rights in Practice, held on 11 September at the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Law. The conference and awards gala were attended by an international roster of jurists, academics and practitioners, with the gala itself held at the Altes Rathaus, Vienna’s Old Town Hall.
News of the award was shared widely within the legal community in Pakistan, including by Nida Usman Chaudhary, founder of the Women in Law Initiative Pakistan and herself a past Justitia Laureate, who marked the seventh Women in Law Conference and the award on LinkedIn. Women in Law Pakistan also carried the news on its Facebook page, congratulating Justice Malik on the international honour.
Barrister Taimur Malik, founder of Courting the Law, congratulated Justice Malik on the recognition:
“This is a proud moment not just for Justice Ayesha Malik, but for the Pakistani bar and bench as a whole. Her jurisprudence on gender equality and human rights has set a standard well beyond our borders, and it is fitting to see that work recognised on an international stage. Congratulations to Justice Malik on a thoroughly deserved award.”
Justice Malik’s Justitia Award adds to a growing list of international recognitions for the jurist, following her 2025 honorary doctorate from the University of London, and cements her standing as one of the most closely watched voices on gender and constitutional rights on the Supreme Court of Pakistan today.
