Significant progress is being made towards a more diverse judiciary, according to the lord chief justice, who has declared: “We are on the road to delivery.”
In a speech that may be read as a rebuke to those warning it could take 50 years to achieve gender equality on the bench, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd said that appointing judges who reflect the variety of backgrounds in British society is vital for preserving public confidence in justice.
His comments follow statements made last month by Jonathan Sumption, one of 11 men on the 12-person UK supreme court, who suggested it could take half a century to achieve equality within the senior judiciary. Lord Sumption also pointed to “lifestyle choice” as one of the reasons women do not tolerate the long working hours that pave the way to a career on the bench.
But Thomas, who is head of the judiciary in England and Wales, told an audience at the Temple Women’s Forum in Leeds on Monday night: “The judiciary must be truly open to everyone of the requisite ability. I simply do not accept that this is an issue where we should be content to sit back and just wait for things to happen.
“Whatever views there are on the extent of judicial activism in developing the law, robust judicial activism is entirely right in building a diverse judiciary. Diversity is important, not just to public confidence in justice.
“It is inherent in justice itself because it represents both fairness and equality of opportunity … Unless we embrace the whole of our society, we do not recruit all the potential judges who ought to be appointed and who will bring to the work of a judge their skills and their expertise.
“We simply did not attract enough women and we did not attract enough people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. We are changing that through our aim that everyone should have a fair and proper opportunity to apply.”
Appointment processes delivering both merit and improved diversity are compatible, Thomas insisted. “We need to do more to ensure that there is a level playing field and every applicant has the same fair opportunity when applying for judicial appointment to show that he or she has the potential to be an excellent judge.”
There have already been substantial improvements, he added. In 2005, there were two female judges in the court of appeal; now there are eight. In the high court, there were 10 women a decade ago; now there are 21. One in five crown court judges is now a woman and more than half of all judges in courts and tribunals under 40 are female.
The route to becoming a high court judge has been opened up to those who may have missed out on courtroom experience, Thomas explained. “In the recent competition for deputy high court judges the requirement for prior judicial experience was removed. We have thereby opened up the competition to a wider range of applicants,” he said.
“Successful candidates will then be given any necessary training in the relevant jurisdiction before sitting as a deputy high court judge; when the time comes, they can compete on a level playing field for appointment as a judge of the high court.”
The diversity committee of the judges’ council, headed by Dame Heather Hallett, has, Thomas said, made “distinct achievements; we feel we are on the road to delivery”.
But he acknowledged: “The Judicial Appointments Commission has done much, but we are not satisfied that we have done enough and perceptions plainly remain that the playing field is not level.”
