Remembering Justice Sharada Shrestha
First female judge of Nepal
Photo Credit: Ratopati
In 1967, when she was appointed a judge on the Land Reform Special Court of Nepal, Sharada Shrestha became the first woman to be named to the judiciary in her country. She served at different levels of the judiciary during her career and was the second to reach the level of the Supreme Court of Nepal, where she served from 2004 until her mandatory (age) retirement in 2008. She was an early member of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and attended a number of IAWJ Biennial Conferences.
For the IAWJ, her retirement came at an opportune time. Justice Sharada and her colleague, Justice Gauri Dhakal—also recently retired from the Supreme Court—took on leadership roles with the IAWJ’s new program, Global Leadership of Women (GLOW), a six-country program funded by the Netherlands from 2011 to 2014. Though small in height, Justice Sharada was quite influential in her own country. She helped coordinate and initiate IAWJ GLOW programs in Nepal and participated in the wider multi-country program. She cared deeply about advancing the role, education, and leadership of women and girls in Nepal. At the time, she had also founded and led the Nepalese Women Judges Forum. Throughout her retirement, she continued to advocate for women in the judiciary and later helped develop a vocational training program for incarcerated women in Nepal.
Justice Sharada Shrestha shared her warm Nepalese hospitality with other IAWJ members and was always happy when IAWJ colleagues visited her country. I was pleased that she kept in touch over the years, continuing to share her interest and commitment to the IAWJ and to the work of women judges around the world. In her honor, the Supreme Court of Nepal suspended sessions to mourn her passing. She will be missed by so many.
Joan D. Winship
Executive Director (ret.), IAWJ
March 2025