CWFSIW – 2021

‘GENDER JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES – A REFLECTION ON CONCEPT OF FAMILY AND RIGHTS OF WOMEN’

About CWFS
The Centre for Women and Family Studies is established at NUALS in the year 2014 as the eighth centre of study and research which pursue excellence by gathering momentum through its wide-ranging and tremendous extension activities. The Centre aims to create and disseminate knowledge on various facets of women studies and assist the legislative and executive machinery in the process of formulation of laws and policies.

Theme description
Is law, fast losing its great m1ss10n and sense of adventure? Can we afford the separation of justice and law? Many inside the world of law and many more outside of it realise the fact of transformation taking place in the society and specifically the concept of family, the basic social institution and marriage the root behind the family. Social processes and the redefined versions of justice gave birth to redesigned concept of family and marriage. Despite the disturbing realities attached to the conventional concepts of family and marriage: the societal, cultural and religious pressure has somewhat exposed their reluctance to accept the principle of equality and gender justice. Surely the time has come for a complete reform of the laws on marriage, family , domestic relationship, gender equality , rethinking of gender roles and to make a deep dive into the new world of uniform application of law. But it is also required to be taken note of the need that modernization should not destroy basic concept of marriage and family, the objective and divine responsibilities vested in these institutions at one point of time. Doing justice is clearly a constitutional obligation. Promoting individual liberty and personal freedom is yet another obligation. The very idea of justice depends on the interest of the party and hence it is always desirable to adjudicate based on the anvil of constitutional principles, constitutional values and constitutional morality. Again as notions of social morality are inherently subjective, it cannot be used as a means to unduly interfere with the domain of personal autonomy. Gender justice is a facet of social justice and it need to be upheld but that should not be a weapon to transgress the responsibilities and duties as against the vested right and as against the equilibrium of the society. It should not lead to a tragic separation between law and justice.