BALANCING THE (JUDICIARY) POWER: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF GENDER IN THE JUDICIARY

In the last decade, the gender imbalance in the composition of the judiciary has sporadically been raised as a problem in professional, political and broader public discourse in Slovenia. Warnings about the growing number of women among judges, often framed as the feminisation of the judiciary, come in waves and oscillate in terms of the weight and reach attributed to them by the pro fessional and general public. The article concisely reviews the key theoretical argu ments, especially those related to the value of diversity, which can serve as a basis for a reasoned and evidence based discussion on the need for gender balance in this context. By applying these arguments to the situation on the ground as it has developed in Slovenia over the last decades, among other things, the article aims to demonstrate what we really know about the key parameters that frame these social and legal developments in Slovenia and where we may be just guessing and caution is warranted while calling for the implementing of measures to address the current state of affairs.