In the judicial branch, women account for only 27 per cent of judges worldwide. There is wide divergence among States as regards the numbers of women in the judiciary, with some States in the Eastern European region having a majority of women judges. Even in countries that have a higher representation of women in the judiciary, the numbers of women decrease at higher levels. There are few women in the highest courts, including supreme courts, and rarely are the presidents women. In most religious courts women are excluded from holding office. There is, however, good practice in the Asia-Pacific region: in one country, women judges have been part of the religious courts since the institution was created in the 1950s, reaching a participation rate of 20 per cent in 2011; in another, female judges were appointed to the Sharia court pursuant to the removal of its reservation to article 7 (b) of the Convention.