The annual judicial diversity statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice last week, show 40% of court judges and 54% of tribunal judges are women, compared to 28% and 44% respectively in 2016. Ethnic minority representation in the judiciary as a whole rose from 8% to 13% in the past decade, and is now slightly higher than in the UK population aged 50-74 years old.
Taking a closer look, however, the proportion of Black judges has hardly changed—rising from 1.4% in 2016 to 1.6% today.
Bar Council Chair, Kirsty Brimelow KC said: ‘We remain concerned that progress has completely stalled in terms of the proportion of Black judges.
‘Under the new Judicial and Legal Diversity Board we must interrogate why there has been no progress so we can begin to see this trend changing.’
Brimelow, who has made social mobility one of her term priorities, highlighted a slightly lower recommendation rate for state school applicants during the appointment process and lower recommendation rates for applicants whose parents did not attend university (10% compared to 14%).
‘Far too often people who don’t have opportunities in their childhood miss out on incredible professional careers,’ Brimelow said. Across the current judiciary, 36% of court judges and 29% of tribunal judges attended fee-paying schools.
The statistics also revealed ‘a disparity of outcomes of practical significance exists between solicitors and barristers’, with solicitor applicants 38% less likely to be successful than their barrister counterparts. Compared to 2016, the proportion of non-barristers, mainly solicitors, has dropped one percentage point to 30% of court judges and dropped 5% to 60% of tribunal judges.
