Faults in the system?

The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) report, ‘Statistical analysis of candidate progression through judicial selection tools 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2021’, was commissioned in 2018 and published last week. It examines the differences in success rates for target group candidates from 2015 to 2021 (covering 22,000 legal and 2,300 non-legal judicial applicants).

The report concludes there is no difference in success rates between women and men. However, even after controlling for legal profession and Oxbridge attendance, overall Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates do less well than White candidates for the majority of selection tools (a 6% success rate compared to a 14% success rate). Similarly, overall solicitor candidates do less well than barrister candidates for all five selection tools (multiple choice, scenario test, paper sift, telephone assessment and selection day), even when controlling for ethnicity and Oxbridge attendance.

Lubna Shuja, vice president of the Law Society, said the report ‘shows beyond doubt that applicants from under-represented backgrounds are much less likely to be successful in the judicial selection process.

‘Despite a significant number of applications from different target groups―including solicitors and Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates―and considerable work to make the judiciary more diverse, it’s clear from these disappointing figures that very little has been achieved to date in driving diversity in judicial appointments.

‘We are deeply concerned to see the new data about the significantly lower success rates of diverse applicants in the JAC process. We call on the JAC to investigate urgently the reasons for this differential performance and remove any remaining barriers. We will continue to support our members to make strong judicial applications and pursue their judicial aspirations, but we want to see them have equal chances of being appointed.’