White applicants are three times more likely to be appointed as recorders than lawyers from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, according to the Bar Council.
The relative lack of success for BAME candidates is revealed in the latest annual statistics from the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
In its assessment of the figures, the Bar Council, which represents barristers across England and Wales, warned that more needed to be done to ensure the judiciary reflects the society on which it passes judgment.
The JAC report showed a marked improvement in the number of women entering the lower ranks of the judiciary but diversity has not improved for those from ethnic backgrounds. There are only two high court judges of Asian descent – Dame Bobbie Cheema-Grubb and Sir Rabinder Singh. There are no BAME judges in the court of appeal or the supreme court.
Being appointed as a recorder is usually the first rung on the ladder to a full-time judicial career. The JAC statistics show that for all judicial appointment exercises last year, 38% of applications were from women, 36% of those shortlisted were women, and 45% of those recommended for the bench were female.
BAME candidates constituted 16% of applicants, 10% of those shortlisted, and only 9% of those appointed.
Sam Mercer, the Bar Council’s head of equality and diversity, said: “At every stage of the process, BAME applicants did less well than their white colleagues.
“If you are a white lawyer applying to become a recorder you have a one in 10 chance of success. If you belong to a minority ethnic group, that drops to one in 33.
“White applicants are three times more likely to succeed. This inequality is unacceptable. We urgently need to work in partnership with organisations across the legal sector, and with government, to find out why this distortion is occurring and take immediate measures for correction.
“Those appointed as recorders make up the pool from which the ranks of the senior judiciary are drawn. Lack of diversity at this level has huge implications for the ethnic makeup of our most influential and respected tier of public servants.
“Since 2012, there have been no BAME applications or appointments at all to the court of appeal and there are still no BAME judges in the supreme court. A modern judiciary must be representative of the communities it seeks to serve.”
Peter Herbert, chair of the Society of Black Lawyers, said: “The first African and Asian barristers joined the bar in the 1850s and 1860s. Gender discrimination is easier for the establishment to deal with than race discrimination.
“There needs to be affirmative action. What we want is to have every BAME candidate interviewed for a post. Otherwise we will have the same system carrying on for the next 50 years.
“This is a dysfunctional justice system across the board. There’s been a lack of leadership. The disproportion is worst in terms of those who come before the courts where around 30% [of defendants] are from BAME backgrounds.”
