Judicial Diversity Taskforce

Friday 13th September 2013 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mrs Helen Grant)]

The judicial diversity taskforce has today published its third annual progress report, which details the progress the taskforce has made in addressing the 53 recommendations of the advisory panel on judicial diversity. The advisory panel had a vision that our judiciary would be more diverse by 2020 and I am confident that the work of the taskforce will go some way to achieving this vision.

Significant progress has been made by members of the taskforce over this past year. The Crime and Courts Act 2013 introduced changes to the selection panels for senior appointments to ensure that they are more diverse, introduced an equal merit provision into the appointments process and allowed part-time working in the senior courts, including the UK Supreme Court.

This progress is certainly encouraging; however, we do still have a number of important recommendations to implement before we start to see any significant changes in diversity. It is very important that the outstanding recommendations are completed swiftly so we do not lose the momentum we have built, and that we carry out robust evaluation of our actions to make sure the steps we are taking are the right ones; steps that will deliver tangible benefits and meaningful change in the diversity of our judiciary.

Only with renewed energy and commitment from all will we see real, visible change in the diversity of our judiciary in the future.

Copies of the taskforce’s progress report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The report is also available online at:

http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-judicial-diversity-judicial-diversity-taskforce-annual-report-2013.