Sexual harassment by judges will not be tolerated, senior judges have warned after unspecified allegations emerged in the press.
The Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals described reports of harassment this week as ‘deeply troubling’. They have issued a statement confirming that ‘complaints will be taken seriously and investigated where there are grounds to do so’.
In the April issue of Counsel magazine, two barristers provide some examples offered by members of the Western Circuit Women’s Forum as they were writing their article on harassment and sexism at work—the authors state they are aware of more serious allegations which they do not want to share and point out that the context has been changed in some of the examples to ensure anonymity. They include a Circuit judge asking a woman who was in the middle of mini-pupillage if he was too old for her, what her favourite sex position was and if he would join her for a ‘night cap’. She described the experience as ‘horrible’.
One woman recalled how a judge who had previously complimented her appearance asked a male barrister whether he was ‘enjoying the view’, gesturing towards her. Another woman described: ‘I walked into the robing room to talk to the two defence counsel in a trial I was prosecuting. A senior male barrister was talking to them already and said “what a privilege to have such a shapely prosecutor”. It made me feel so humiliated that it was hard to concentrate on the negotiations that followed’.
Several women described being ‘barracked for being over sensitive’ when they had objected to sexual and misogynistic comments in robing room discussions.
Further information about how to make a complaint can be found here: https://judicialconduct.judiciary.gov.uk
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