Slow progress towards judicial diversity
A truly representative judiciary is still a long way from reality, according to statistics published by the Judicial Diversity Forum, with Black judges making up just 1% of those on the bench, a proportion that has remained unchanged since 2014.
In that same period, the number of Asian judges has risen from 3% to 5%, and mixed ethnicity judges doubled to 2%.
The proportion of women on the bench continues to increase – 34% of court judges and half of tribunal judges are female – but it is lower from the High Court and above (29%).
Proportions of ethnic minorities remain lower in senior court roles – 4% for High Court and above – compared to others.
In all, 55% of judges are White men and 35% are White women.
The report found a “statistically significant” difference in recommendation rates between White and non-White lawyers, stating that “there are real differences between ethnicity groups in terms of rates of progression through to the judiciary”.
Non-barristers make up only 32% of court judges and 64% of tribunal judges, leading CILEX chair Professor Chris Bones to say he wanted to see CILEX being part of the solution to a judiciary where “White men still predominate” with “equality of opportunity” for members.
He said: “Given more than 73% of CILEX members are female, there is a real opportunity here, but the block on CILEX Lawyers applying for senior judicial appointments is holding talented candidates back.
“CILEX Lawyers have already proven themselves as effective judges yet in the last year CILEX Lawyers were only able to apply for four out of the 24 judicial selection exercises.
“If we truly want to make progress towards a representative judiciary, now is the time to open up the judicial eligibility criteria to lawyers of all backgrounds.”
The then Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland sees a role for CILEX and said in his speech to the CILEX AGM that he wanted to see more CILEX judges, “bringing a range of professional backgrounds which will be invaluable in boosting our world-renowned judiciary”. He stressed: “This country needs judges like you.”