More women than men recommended for judicial posts
Women made up the majority in recommendations for judicial posts for the very first time, the latest Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) figures show.
More women than men were recommended for posts in the 17 selection exercises in April–September 2013 that make up the JAC’s ninth set of official statistics.
The shift in balance is significant because women are under-represented in the judiciary—there is one woman justice in the Supreme Court (Lady Hale), seven out of 38 Court of Appeal judges are women, 18 out of 108 High Court judges are women, and 40 out of 113 Masters are women.
Christopher Stephens, JAC chair, says: “The statistics continue to highlight the success of women, with the proportion recommended in individual selection exercises often being higher than the percentage of applicants or shortlisted candidates who were women.”
Women made up 52% of recommendations overall, which exactly matched their proportion of the shortlist, and 35% of those posts that required legal qualifications.
Some 723 candidates applied for just 58 fee-paid employment judge positions, which requires experience and legal qualifications. Out of the successful candidates, half were solicitors, 43% were women, three per cent were BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) and one was a CILEx Fellow—the third Fellow to be recommended for a judicial post.
BAME candidates accounted for 10% of recommendations overall.
