Membership of the Universal House of Justice

The members of the Universal House of Justice are nine men, elected once every five years by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies in the Bahá'í world (currently 1,611 men and women), who themselves have been elected by delegates who were elected by proportional representation of the entire adult membership of each national Bahá'í community.

In accordance with universally applied Bahá'í electoral principles, there are no nominations for the members of the Universal House of Justice, nor is electioneering permitted. Each elector votes for those nine Bahá'í men from any part of the world who he or she judges are best suited for the post. Moreover, the nine members do not represent specific constituencies. Each considers himself a representative of the entire Bahá'í world community.

It is notable that out of all Bahá'í institutions, whether elective or appointive, the Universal House of Justice is the sole instance where the membership is restricted to men. Bahá'u'lláh gave no reason for this provision of the Sacred Text. The Universal House of Justice itself has stated that the ineligibility of women for membership of the Universal House of Justice cannot be adduced as evidence of the superiority of men over women. Such an assertion is inadmissible in face of the categorical pronouncements in Bahá'í Scripture establishing the equality of men and women.