Judicial Diversity Report

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The UK judiciary has been continually under scrutiny over the fact that it is not a true representative of the multi-cultural society in which we live in. Some have argued that there is "limited empirical evidence that diverse judges can improve the decision-making process." However, this is a viewpoint that seems irrelevant in this modern day as the number of female judges has more than doubled to 23% from 1998 to 2011. However, the number of Black Asian and minority ethnicities is still only 5.1%. Therefore, the issue of judicial diversity is still very prominent today. Another issue is the fact that the majority of the judiciary come from a public school background, this is especially true for the Supreme Court who are mainly educated …show more content…

In 2010 the Report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, led by Baroness Neuberger, was published. This report contained 53 different recommendations in order to increase diversity in the judiciary. The fact that the executive and Parliament have been attempting to fulfil all 53 recommendations "and will work together with the Lord Chief Justice, the JAC, the Bar Council, the Law Society and the Institute of Legal Executives" shows that the problem of representation is not being ignored and that Neuberger is ensuring better opportunities for women and …show more content…

There is a societal problem as talented individuals are being discouraged to apply for work due to a concern that they may not be eligible to join the bench after working for a long time in the judiciary. It is a vital public interest that the highly experienced lawyers for the CPS and GLS are not all recruited from the private sector. These barricades need to be removed if representatives from all backgrounds of society are to have access to the judiciary. There are structural implications to the appointment of government lawyers and prosecutors which are in need of removal. Jonathan Sumption; while a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission, argued that "the blanket exclusion of CPS prosecutors from sitting as criminal recorders is too absolute and is, frankly, totally unjustifiable." He suggested that CPS lawyers could sit as part-time judges away from their areas of prosecution. This would help to increase the diversity in particular areas where there may be very little in the crown and high courts. A point brought up by Jack Straw MP portrays the problems of the judiciary and why diversity is so difficult to achieve; “somebody who is at the referral Bar and does nothing but prosecution work, ..can be a recorder in that area and sit on criminal cases and someone who is a senior prosecutor…who does nothing but prosecution work and at the moment cannot”. This

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