List of first women lawyers and judges in Asia

Afghanistan

• Jameela Farooq Rooshna: First female judge in Afghanistan
• Maria Bashir : First female prosecutor in Afghanistan. She later became the first female Prosecutor General in Afghanistan.
• Kimberley Motley : First foreign female lawyer in Afghanistan
• Anisa Rasooli: First female to sit on the Supreme Court of Afghanistan

  Firsts in a particular region in Afghanistan

• Gul Makki Sultanzada: First female lawyer in Kandahar
• Zainab Fayez: First female prosecutor in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
• Shekeba Danish: First female lawyer employed by the Nangarhar Province’s attorney's office in Afghanistan

  Bahrain

• Lulwa Al Awadhi and Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa : First female lawyers in Bahrain
• Mona Jasem al-Kawari: First female judge in Bahrain
• Amina Issa: First female to serve as a prosecutor in the juvenile courts and judicial inspector in Bahrain
• Dhouha al-Zayani: First female appointed as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bahrain
• Fatima Hubail: First female appointed as a Judge of the Lower Criminal Court of Bahrain

  Bangladesh

• Rabia Bhuiyan: First female barrister in Bangladesh
• Nazmun Ara Sultana : First female judge in Bangladesh, as well as the first female Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh
• Krishna Debnath: First Hindu female judge in Bangladesh
• Jesmin Ara: First female solicitor in Bangladesh

  Bhutan

• Tashi Chhozom: First female judge in Bhutan, as well as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of Bhutan

  Brunei

• Hayati binti Mohammad Salleh : First Brunei Malay woman called to the English Bar. She later became the first female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Brunei, as well as the first female Attorney General of Brunei.

  Cambodia

• Kim Lun Khun, Thavry Neth and Thun Leapphy Muong : According to the registry of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, they were the first female lawyers to register in October 1995.
• Kim Sothavy: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Cambodia
• Cheang Leang: First female to serve as the Attorney General of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Cambodia

  China

• Flora Rosenberg: First female to practice law in China
• Tcheng Yu-hsiu : First female lawyer in China and Shanghai, China. She later became the first female judge in China.
• Kathleen Hoahing : First female solicitor in China
• Ma Yuan: First female to serve as the Vice President of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China
• Wei Qihong : First female lawyer of the Va nationality in China
• Xue Hanqin: First Chinese female appointed as a Judge of the International Court of Justice

  Firsts in a particular region in China

• :zh:蔣昌煒|Jiang Changwei : First female lawyer in the Hunan Province, China
• Wei Fubao: First female magistrate in Jianhu County, China
• Wu Zhonglian: First female to serve as the President of the Zhejiang Higher People's Court
• :zh:央金 |Yang Jin : First female lawyer in Tibet

  East Timor (Timor Leste)

• :de:Maria Natércia Gusmão Pereira|Maria Natércia Gusmão Pereira: First female judge in East Timor. She later became a permanent Judge of the Court of Appeal judge in East Timor.
• :de:Jacinta Correia da Costa|Jacinta Correia de Costa: First female appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in East Timor and Judge Secretary of the Supreme Judicial Council of East Timor
• Ana Pessoa Pinto : First female appointed as the Attorney General of East Timor

  Hong Kong (CHN)

• Teo Soon Kim : First female barrister in Hong Kong
• Patricia Loseby : First female admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong
• Ellen Li: First female Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong
• Cui Zhiying: First female judge in Hong Kong
• Helen Lo: First female appointed as a District Judge
• Doreen Le Pichon : First female appointed as a High Court Judge and subsequently as a Justice of Appeal Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong
• Baroness Hale and Beverley McLachlin : First females appointed as Non-Permanent Judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal
• Melissa Kaye Pang: First female lawyer appointed as the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong
• Susan Kwan: First female appointed as Vice President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong

  India

• Cornelia Sorabji : First female graduate from Bombay University, first woman to study law at Oxford University, first female advocate in India, and the first woman to practice law in India and Britain
• Mithan Jamshed Lam : First Indian woman barrister and the first Indian woman lawyer at the Bombay High Court
• Omana Kunjamma: First female magistrate in India
• Anna Chandy : First female judge in India. She was also the first female judge in the Anglo-Saxon world, decades before Elizabeth Lane.
• Violet Alva: First female lawyer to appear before a High Court in India and preside over the Rajya Sabha
• Fathima Beevi : First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of India

  Firsts in a particular region in India

• Binita Hazarika: One of the first female lawyers to arise from the Sonitpur district in Assam State, India
• Shiela Didi: One of the first female lawyers in Chandigarh, India
• Surila Devi: First female lawyer in Lohardaga, India
• Manjula Chellur: First female lawyer in Bellary, Bellary District of Karnataka. She later became a Chief Justice.
• Sujata Vasant Manohar: First female appointed as a Judge of the Bombay High Court and its Chief Justice
• Urmila Ray: First female barrister in Odisha, India
• Meenakshi Madan Rai: First female to serve as a Judge of the Sikkim High Court
• Jaya Rao: First female lawyer in Warangal, India
• Fozia Nazeer : First locally educated female lawyer in Kashmir. An unknown woman became the Kashmir Bar's first female attorney in 1973.
• Sindhu Sharma: First female appointed as Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court
• Kapur Renu: First female lawyer in Srinagar, Kashmir
• Sugnya Bhatt: First female judge of Gujarat High Court

  Indonesia

• Julia Adolfs : First female lawyer when Indonesia was known as the Netherland Indies
• Ani Abas Manoppo : First female lawyer in Indonesia
• Nn Thung Tjit Nio: First female state judge in Indonesia
• Ny. Prayitno: First female appointed as a Judge of the Religious Court in Indonesia through the decree of the Minister of Religion
• Sri Widoyati Wiratmo Soekito: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia
• Maria Farida Indrati: First female appointed as Judge of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia

  Firsts in a particular region in Indonesia

• Desiree Tan: First Chinese Indonesian woman to graduate from what is presently known as the law school of the University of Indonesia
• Sunaryati Hartono : First woman appointed as a Judge of the Country Country Court

  Iran

• Mehrangiz Manouchehrian: First female lawyer in Iran
• Shirin Ebadi: First female judge in Iran

  Firsts in a particular region in Iran

• Mina Torabi: First female judge in the Lorestan Province, Iran

  Iraq

• Sabiha al-Shaykh Da'ud: First female lawyer in Iraq
• Zakia Hakki: First female judge in Iraq

  Firsts in a particular region in Iraq

• Nidal Nassar Hussein: First female judge in the Iraqi Shi'ite city of Najaf

  Israel

• Rosa Ginossar : First female lawyer in Israel
• :he:אוגניה וינוגרדוב|Eugenia Winogradov : First female judge in Israel
• Miriam Ben-Porat : First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel
• Dorit Beinisch : First female justice to serve as the President of the Supreme Court of Israel, as well as Israel's first female State Attorney
• Hana Mansour-Khatib: First female appointed as a Judge of the Shari'a Court in Israel
• Havi Toker: First ultra-Orthodox female judge in Israel
• Sawsan Elkassem: First Druze female judge in Israel

  Firsts in a particular region in Israel

• Rana Jarbon: First female lawyer in Jisr-az-Zarqa, Israel

  Japan

• Masako Nakata, Yoshiko Mibuchi, and Ai Kume : First female lawyers in Japan
• Yoshiko Mibuchi and :ja:石渡満子|Mitsuko Ishiwatari : First female judges in Japan. Mibuchi later became the first female to serve as a District Court Judge and a Chief Judge of the Family Court in Japan.
• Chieko Monjo: First female public prosecutor in Japan
• Oshiro Mitsuyo and Noda Aiko: First females to serve as Judges of the High Court in Japan. Aiko later became the first female to serve as the Commissioner of a High Court in Japan.
• Mitsuko Terasawa: First female judge to serve as the President of a District Court in Japan
• Hisako Takahashi: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan
• Sato Noriko: First female to serve as a Chief Public Prosecutor in Japan
• Junko Hayashi : First Japanese Muslim lawyer in Japan

  Firsts in a particular region in Japan

• Hisako Yukawa : First female lawyer in Kyushu, Japan

  Jordan

• Emily Bisharat: First female lawyer in Jordan
• Taghreed Hikmat: First female judge in Jordan
• Ihsan Barakat: First female appointed as the Chief Justice of the West Amman Court of First Instance, Attorney General, and Judge of the Cassation Court of Jordan
• Ohood Abdullah Majali: First female prosecutor in Jordan
• Noura al-Jariri: First blind female lawyer in Jordan

  Kazakhstan

• Nagyima Idryskyzy Arykova: First female to serve as the President of the Supreme Court of Kazakh ASSR
• Aitpaeva Saule Muhanbedianovna : First female lawyer to achieve the rank of general in Kazakhstan. She is also the first female to have headed a Prosecutor-General's Office's department for the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• Lyudmila Illarionovna Basharimova: First female to serve as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan

  Kuwait

• Badria al-Awadhi: First female to study law in Kuwait
• Suad al-Jassim : First female lawyer in Kuwait
• Mounira Al Wagayan: One of the first 22 women appointed to serve as a prosecutor in Kuwait
• Hanadi Al-Omani: First female lawyer with visual impairment in Kuwait

  Kyrgyzstan

• Kydyrbaeva Fatima Chapievna : First female lawyer to become the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Kirghiz SSR
• Cholpon Tursunovna Baekova: First female to serve as the Chairperson of the then newly formed Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan
• Aida Salyanova: First female appointed as the Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic

  Lebanon

• Paulette Ameslend Tamer : First female law intern of French origin registered in Lebanon
• Nina Trad : First female lawyer in Lebanon
• Katina Gholam and Georgette Arbid Chidiac: First female judges in Lebanon
• Arlette Jreissati: First female judge in Lebanon to have received a formal judicial education
• Feryal Hussein Dalloul: First female member of the Supreme Judicial Council of Lebanon

  Macau (CHN)

• : First female barrister in Macau
• Florinda Chan and Sonia Chan: First females to serve as the Secretariat for Administration and Justice . Sonia Chan studied law whereas Florinda Chan had a business background.
• Song Man Lei: First female judge in Macau. She was also the first female appointed as a prosecutor in Macau.

  Malaysia

• B.H. Oon : First female lawyer in Malaysia
• Tan Sri Dato' Seri Siti Norma binti Yaakob : First female judge in Malaysia. She later became the first female Judge of the Court of Appeal and first female Chief Judge of Malaysia.
• Ainum Mohd Saaid: First female Attorney General of Malaysia
• Noor Huda Roslan and Nenney Shuhaidah: First female Judges of the Shari'a High Court in Malaysia
• Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat: First female justice appointed as the Chief Justice of Malaysia

  Firsts in a particular region in Malaysia

• Zaleha Kamarudin : First female appointed as a Judge of the Syariah Court of Appeal of the State of Terengganu

  Maldives

• Mariya Ahmed Didi: First female lawyer in Maldives
• Aisha Shujoon Mohamed and Huzaifa Mohamed: First female judges in Maldives
• Azima Shukoor: First female Attorney General of Maldives
• Aishath Bisam: First female appointed as the Prosecutor General of Maldives

  Mongolia

• Binjelkh Tserenbaljir : First female lawyer in Mongolia, as well as the first female assistant procurator of Mongolia's State Prosecutor's Office
• T. Enkhtuya: First female appointed as a Judge of the Aimag Court. She later became the first female Chief Justice of the Civil Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeals of the First Civil Prosecutor's Office in Mongolia.

  Myanmar (Burma)

• Phar Hmee : First female barrister in Myanmar
• Hme Khin: First female judge in Myanmar
• Khin Hla Myint and Daw Kyi: First females to serve as Justices of the Constitutional Tribunal of Myanmar

  Nepal

• Shanti Devi Chhetri : First female lawyer in Nepal
• Ambika Acharya: First female judge in Nepal
• Sharada Shrestha: First female appointed as a Judge of the District Court in Nepal
• Silu Singh: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal
• Sushila Karki : First female appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal
• Mohna Ansari : First female Muslim lawyer in Nepal

  North Korea

• Lee Tai-Young : First female lawyer in Korea. She completed her two years of training by 1954, but did not set up a law practice until 1957. She later became a judge.

  Oman

• Kamilia al Busaidy : First female registered lawyer in Oman
• Sahar Askalan: First Omani woman to set up a law firm in Oman
• Jalila bint Sulaiman al-Rawahiya: First female to serve a Director of Public Prosecutions. She was one of the first 16 women appointed as a prosecutor in Oman in 2004.

  Pakistan

• Salma Sobhan : First female lawyer in Pakistan
• Khalida Rashid Khan : First female judge in Pakistan
• Majida Rizvi: First female appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Pakistan
• Noor Naz Agha: First female lawyer to hold an elective office of a bar council in Pakistan. She also became the first female member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan in 2017.
• Asma Jahangir : First female to serve as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan
• Ashraf Jehan: First female appointed as a Judge of the Federal Shari'a Court in Pakistan
• Tahira Safdar: First female justice to become a chief justice in Pakistan. She was also the first female appointed as a civil judge in Balochistan.
• Suman Kumari: First Hindu female to become a civil judge in Pakistan

  Firsts in a particular region in Pakistan

• Saima Anwar : First female to practice law in the Swat Valley
• Jalila Haider: First female lawyer from the Hazara community of Balochistan
• Shazia Mehrab: First female lawyer in Gwadar, Pakistan
• Amna Zamir Khan: First female judge in Gilgit-Baltistan
• Nazish Maryam: First female judge in Baltistan
• Rabia Qari: First female barrister in Lahore, Pakistan. She was also the first female to serve as the President of the Lahore High Court Bar Association.
• Surraiya Ahmed Pai: First female magistrate in Karachi, Pakistan

  Palestine (ISR)

• Freda Slutzkin : First female lawyer in Mandatory Palestine
• Saada Fawzi Khalil Kamal Dajani : First female to become a lawyer, prosecutor, judge, Justice of the Supreme Court, and Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Palestine
• Iman Naser Al-Deen: First female appointed as a judge in the Palestinian territories and a Senior Judge of the High Judicial Council in Palestine
• Kholoud Al-Faqih and Asmahan Al-Wuheidi: First females appointed as Judges of the Sharia Court in Palestine
• Somoud Al-Damiri: First female appointed as the Chief Prosecutor in Palestine
• Tahreer Hammad: First female appointed as a marriage officiant in Palestine

  Philippines

• Floy Gilmore: First female appointed as the Assistant Attorney General of the Philippines
• Maria del Pilar Francisco de Villacerna : First female lawyer in the Philippines
• Natividad Almeda-López : First female judge in the Philippines, as well as the first female appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeals in the Philippines
• Cecilia Muñoz-Palma : First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was also the first female district court judge in the Philippines, as well as the first female prosecutor for Quezon City, Philippines.
• Merceditas Gutierrez : First female appointed as the Ombudsman of the Philippines. She was also the first female to serve as the Secretary of Justice for the Philippines.
• Agnes Devanadera: First female appointed as the Solicitor-General of the Philippines
• Marian Aleido : First female appointed as the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
• Maria Lourdes Sereno: First female justice appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Miriam Defensor Santiago: First female of Filipino descent elected as a Judge of the International Criminal Court

  Firsts in a particular region in the Philippines

• Fe Uy-Buenaventura: First female lawyer in Catanduanes
• Elena Ruiz Causin : First female lawyer and judge in Cebu

  Qatar

• Haifa al-Bakr : First female lawyer in Qatar
• Maryam Abdullah al-Jaber: First female prosecutor in Qatar
• Sheikha Maha Mansour al-Thani: First female judge in Qatar

  Saudi Arabia

• Souad al-Shammari: First female authorized to defend female cases in the Saudi courts
• Arwa Al-Hujaili : First female trainee lawyer in Saudi Arabia
• Bayan Mahmoud Al-Zahran : First female lawyer in Saudi Arabia. She later founded the first all-woman law firm in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
• Shaimaa Sadeq Al-Jibran: First female arbitrator in Saudi Arabia
• Laila Mohammed Al-Qabi : First blind female lawyer in Saudi Arabia

  Firsts in a particular region in Saudi Arabia

• Jamila Fahd al-Atram : First female lawyer in the Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

  Singapore

• Teo Soon Kim : First female lawyer admitted to the Bar in the Straits Settlements
• Jenny Lau Buong Bee : First female judge in Singapore
• Ong Cheng See : First woman advocate / solicitor admitted to the Singapore Bar that attended a university within the country
• Lai Siu Chiu : First woman to serve as a Judicial Commissioner and the first woman appointed as a Judge of the High Court in the Supreme Court of Singapore
• Koh Juat Jong : First female appointed as the Solicitor-General of Singapore
• Judith Prakash: First female appointed as a permanent Judge of the Singapore Court of Appeal

  South Korea

• Lee Tai-young : First female lawyer in Korea. She completed her two years of training by 1954, but did not set up a law practice until 1957. She later became a judge.
• Hwang Yun-suk : First female judge in South Korea
• Chosun Sook and Park Suk Kyung: First female prosecutors in South Korea
• Lee Young-ae: First female to serve as a Chief Judge in South Korea
• Kang Kum-sil: First female to serve as the Attorney General for South Korea
• Chung Hyo-sook: First female appointed as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Korea
• Kim Young-ran: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of South Korea

  Firsts in a particular region in South Korea

• Sohn Myung Sook: First female lawyer in the South Gyeongnam Province, South Korea

  Sri Lanka

• Avabai Bomanji Wadia : First Sri Lankan woman to pass the bar examination, but could not find employment as an attorney
• Ezlynn Deraniyagala : First female lawyer in Sri Lanka
• Shiranee Tilakawardane: First female judge in Sri Lanka. She is also the first female appointed as a State Counsel, Judge of the Admiralty Court, Justice of the Court of Appeal and President of the Court of Appeal.
• Shirani Bandaranayake : First female appointed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
• Eva Wansundera : First female to serve as Senior State Counsel, Deputy Solicitor General, Additional Solicitor General, Solicitor General and Attorney General of Sri Lanka

  Syria

• Bouran Al-Tarazi : First female lawyer in Syria
• Ghāda Murād: First female judge in Syria. She was also the first female prosecutor in Syria.

  Firsts in a particular region in Syria

• Amna Minni: First female appointed as the Head of the Bar Association in Latakia

  Taiwan (CHN)

• Shi Junjun, Yu Junzhu, and Xiong Dehui: First foreign female lawyers in the Republic of China
• Chang Chin-lan : First female judge in the Republic of China. She later became the first female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of China.
• Huang Yaqing: First Taiwanese female lawyer and judge in Taiwan

  Firsts in a particular region in Taiwan

• Shi Hong Shumei: First female lawyer in Chiayi, Taiwan

  Tajikistan

• N.D. Safarova: First female to serve as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of Tajikistan

  Thailand

• Khunying Ram Phrommobon Bunyaprasop : First female lawyer in Thailand
• Chalorjit Jittarutta: First female judge in Thailand
• Yindi Wacharaphong Persuwan: First female appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Thailand. She later served as a Chief Justice for the Supreme Court system.
• Saowanee Asavaroj : First female appointed as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of Thailand
• Ubolratana Wudhikapath: First female judge to serve as the President of the Court of Appeal of Thailand

  Turkmenistan

• :ru:Атаджанова, Курбанбиби Сенгреновна|Gurbanbibi Atajanova: First female appointed as the :ru:Генеральный прокурор Туркмении|Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan

  United Arab Emirates

• Samira Gargash : First female lawyer in the United Arab Emirates
• Khulood al Dhaheri: First female judge in the United Arab Emirates
• Manar al Hammadi: First visually impaired female lawyer in the United Arab Emirates
• Fatima Al Qubaisi : First Emirati woman to graduate with a law degree from Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, as well as the first Emirati woman to graduate from Harvard Law School
• Khadija Khamis Al-Malas: First female to serve as an appellate court judge in the United Arab Emirates
• Salama Rashid Al-Ketbi: First female to serve as a Judge of the First Instance Court in the United Arab Emirates

  Firsts in a particular region in the United Arab Emirates

• Wedad Huda Azhari Doleh: First female lawyer in Dubai
• Ebtisam Ali Rashid Al Bedwawi: First female judge in Dubai
• Cynthia Trench : First female expatriate to be licensed as a lawyer in Dubai

  Uzbekistan

• :ru:Сулайманова, Хадича Сулаймановна|Khaditcha Suleymanova : First female lawyer in Uzbekistan. She later became the first female to serve as the Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan.

  Vietnam

• Bùi Thị Cẩm: First female lawyer in Vietnam
• Vũ Thị Châu: First female judge in Vietnam
• Nguyễn Thị Tuyết: First female to embark on a legal career in the history of the Military Courts of Vietnam
• Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Anh: First female ambassador appointed as a Judge of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam

  Firsts in a particular region in Vietnam

• Nguyễn Phước Đại : First female lawyer under the South Vietnamese government
• Le Thi Kim Soa: Reputed to be the first female lawyer to open a law practice in North-Central Vietnam
• Trai Le : First female lawyer in Central Vietnam
• Maj. Ann Wansley: First female judge advocate in the U.S. Army, Vietnam

  Yemen

• Hamida Zakaria: First female judge in Yemen
• Raqia Humaidan : First female lawyer in Yemen
• Shada Nasser : First female lawyer to not cover her up face while practicing before Yemen's courts. She was also the first female lawyer in Sana’a, as well as the first female to develop and head an all-female law firm in the same city.
• Samia Abdullah Saeed: First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Yemen

• CHN = Autonomous administrative division or state of China
• ISR = Sovereign state in Israel