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The case for a representative judiciary

12 February 2020 / Simon Garrod
Issue: 7874 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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Opening up the senior judiciary to chartered legal executives is key to tackling its diversity problem, says Simon Garrod

A recent report by law reform group Justice has warned that our senior judiciary is still dominated by white men, with progress towards improving diversity proving lamentably slow (see ‘Increasing Judicial Diversity: An Update’, https://bit.ly/38i78zV).

Only a third of judges in courts are female and just seven per cent are BAME (black and minority ethnic), compared with 13% of the population in England and Wales. Those from higher socio-economic groups dominate, with three in four existing senior judges having attended Oxbridge and 60% having been privately educated, despite only seven per cent of the country attending fee-paying schools.

Failure

The failure of our judiciary to reflect the society its serves has long been a cause for concern. It is perhaps not so surprising when you look at the whole legal profession which has struggled to open itself up—especially where it would make the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

North west team expands with senior private client and property hires

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Firm boosts corporate team in Newcastle to support high-growth technology businesses

NEWS
Neurotechnology is poised to transform contract law—and unsettle it. Writing in NLJ this week, Harry Lambert, barrister at Outer Temple Chambers and founder of the Centre for Neurotechnology & Law, and Dr Michelle Sharpe, barrister at the Victorian Bar, explore how brain–computer interfaces could both prove and undermine consent
Comparators remain the fault line of discrimination law. In this week's NLJ, Anjali Malik, partner at Bellevue Law, and Mukhtiar Singh, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, review a bumper year of appellate guidance clarifying how tribunals should approach ‘actual’ and ‘evidential’ comparators. A new six-stage framework stresses a simple starting point: identify the treatment first
In cross-border divorces, domicile can decide everything. In NLJ this week, Jennifer Headon, legal director and head of international family, Isobel Inkley, solicitor, and Fiona Collins, trainee solicitor, all at Birketts LLP, unpack a Court of Appeal ruling that re-centres nuance in jurisdiction disputes. The court held that once a domicile of choice is established, the burden lies on the party asserting its loss
Can a chief constable be held responsible for disobedient officers? Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth, professor of public law at De Montfort University, examines a Court of Appeal ruling that answers firmly: yes
Early determination is no longer a novelty in arbitration. In NLJ this week, Gustavo Moser, arbitration specialist lawyer at Lexis+, charts the global embrace of summary disposal powers, now embedded in the Arbitration Act 1996 and mirrored worldwide. Tribunals may swiftly dismiss claims with ‘no real prospect of succeeding’, but only if fairness is preserved
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