ת"ר ועמדו שני האנשים מצוה לבעלי דינין שיעמדו אמר ר' יהודה שמעתי שאם רצו להושיב את שניהם מושיבין איזהו אסור שלא יהא אחד עומד ואחד יושב אחד מדבר כל צרכו ואחד אומר לו קצר דבריך
You may retort: Do, then, men come to court, and do not women ever come to court?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Surely, women are also litigants sometimes; hence, the two men refers to witnesses, who must be men.');"><sup>19</sup></span> But if you wish to say [something to refute this deduction, I give you another]: Here it is said, 'two', and there it i said, 'two'; just as there it refers to witnesses, so here it refers to witnesses. What is meant by: If you wish say [something to refute this]? - You might say, it is not usual for a woman,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To go to court as a litigant: therefore the verse talks of the two men, but in reality it includes women and refers to litigants.');"><sup>20</sup></span>
Sefer HaChinukh
The commandment to judge with righteousness: To judge with righteousness, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:15), "you shall judge your people with righteousness." And the explanation of it comes that the judges were commanded to treat the parties to the dispute equally - meaning to say that the judge not honor one of the litigants more than the other. And so they said in Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 4:4 that one not speak all that he needs, and [the judge] say to the other, "Speak briefly." And so [too,] in the chapter [entitled] Shevuot HaEdut (Shevuot 30a), "Our Rabbis learned, '"You shall judge your people with righteousness" - that it not be that one stand and one sit; one not speak all that he needs, and [the judge] say to the other, "Speak briefly."'" And so [too,] included in this commandment is that every man that is wise in the laws of the Torah and righteous in his ways is commanded to judge the law of the Torah between parties of a dispute, if he has the power in his hand [to do so]. And even an individual can judge from Torah writ - and like they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 3a), "One can judge his fellow from Torah writ, as it is stated, 'You shall judge your people with righteousness.'" But the sages warned (Mishnah Avot 4:8), that a man not judge alone. And also included in this commandment is that it is fit for every person to judge his fellow favorably, and only to understand his deeds and his words favorably.
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