At least four senior judges have resigned from the men-only Garrick Club, the Judicial Office has said, as men in the legal profession come under increasing pressure over their close association with an organisation that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.
The office confirmed that the appeal court judge Keith Lindblom and the high court judges Nicholas Cusworth, Nicholas Lavender and Ian Dove had resigned.
A spokesperson added that it was possible more had done so but had not reported such to the Judicial Office, which provides training and human resources advice to the judiciary in England and Wales.
The four judges were among dozens in the legal profession now known to have been members. Their number included a further four appeal court judges, five more high court judges, dozens of serving and retired judges, current and former ministers in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and numerous senior solicitors.
The issue is now being taken seriously at the highest levels of the judiciary. The lady chief justice, Sue Carr, who is the president of the courts and head of the judiciary of England and Wales, said the revelations about judges’ membership of the Garrick underlined the need to continue work to improve inclusivity in the profession.
In an internal message sent to judges, she wrote: “You will have seen the recent media coverage relating to judicial members of the Garrick Club. I am alive to the issues raised, which I take very seriously. I wish to emphasise my commitment to diversity and inclusivity across the judiciary. We must continue our vital work in this area including delivering on the work outlined in our diversity and inclusion strategy.”
The judges’ resignations followed those of the head of the civil service, Simon Case, and the MI6 chief, Richard Moore. They had faced intense criticism of their decision to join the club in the first place, and their decisions to leave last week placed further pressure on those then retaining membership.
The news came days after the publication of an open letter signed by more than 80 lawyers in England and Wales, calling on judges to give up their memberships, calling them “incompatible with the core principles of justice, equality and fairness”.
Dr Charlotte Proudman, who coordinated the open letter along with her fellow barrister Elisabeth Traugott, said signatories were calling on colleagues to resign from the club – and for the club to allow women to join.
“I hope that we see a domino effect, with more and more people slowly starting to resign. And I certainly hope by the end of this week that all of the judges have resigned from the Garrick Club,” she told Sky News on Monday morning.
A second open letter was circulating last night among members of the legal profession, highlighting a belief that membership of the Garrick, with its current rules, was inconsistent with the courts and tribunals judiciary’s guide to judicial conduct.
The letter was organised by the fashion entrepreneur Emily Bendell, who has been campaigning for the Garrick to change its rules for several years. It cited one line in the guide, stating: “The principles of exercising equality and fairness of treatment have always been fundamental to the role and conduct of the judiciary when carrying out their judicial functions … These principles should also be reflected in conduct outside court.”
The guide was jointly authorised by Lord Justice Lindblom, one of the judges who resigned from the Garrick this week. Another line from the guide quoted in the letter states: “Because judicial office necessarily attracts public scrutiny, judicial office holders are subject to constraints on their private lives which might not apply to others … They should not act in a way, even in their private or family life, which could reduce respect for judicial office or cast doubt on their independence, impartiality or integrity.”
A spokesperson for Her Bar, a group working to support women’s careers as barristers, set up by Nasreen Shah and Rachel Bale, welcomed the resignations: “It is sincerely hoped all members of the bench and bar follow suit. If the Garrick Club won’t listen to the chorus of women who have been requesting admission for 50 years, perhaps they will be forced to listen to the echo of their empty rooms in order to evolve into the 21st century.”
Helena Kennedy, a barrister and Labour member of the House of Lords, has argued for a US-style system that would bar judges from joining the Garrick. The US federal code of conduct for judges says they “should not hold membership in any organisation that practises invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin”, adding that such membership “gives rise to perceptions that the judge’s partiality is impaired”.
