Judicial diversity in numbers

One in five Court of Appeal and High Court judges are women, according to judicial diversity statistics published this week.

Eight out of 39 Court of Appeal judges and 22 out of 106 High Court judges are female, as of April 2016. The numbers correspond almost exactly to the previous year. In the courts generally, the percentage of female judges has increased from 25% to 28% in the past year. In tribunals, it remained stable at 45%.

More than half of the 85 court judges under 40 years of age are women, as are 64% of the 56 tribunal judges under 40.

Some 5% of court judges and 9% of tribunal judges identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. The figures for judges under the age of 40 is slightly higher—8% for courts and 14% for tribunals.

Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, says: “I believe strongly that it is imperative that we as judges do not sit back and wait for change but are active in improving the diversity of the judiciary.

“It is encouraging that the figures show that the overall percentage of female judges in courts has increased this year from 25% to 28% whilst remaining stable at the more impressive figure of 45% in the tribunals. The percentage of female judges in courts stood at 23% in 2012.

“The judiciary must be truly open to everyone of the requisite ability and we are hopeful that the variety of initiatives being actively pursued—led by the Judicial Diversity Committee of the Judges’ Council—will bring more diversity to the judiciary, more quickly. Our activities have included networking events, outreach (to schools, colleges, universities, lawyers and community groups), judicial work shadowing, mentoring, application workshops and a dedicated support programme.”