Judiciary: Equality

(asked on 5th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to encourage increased diversity among (a) judicial appointments to the Supreme Court during its current recruitment process and (b) all judicial appointments.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 10th November 2020

The selection process for a new Justice of the Supreme Court is laid down in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The Lord Chancellor convenes a selection commission, which is chaired by the President of the Supreme Court and includes another UK judge and three lay members.

Following consultation with the Lord Chancellor, the selection commission has issued materials which make clear that it welcomes applications from the widest range of applicants eligible to apply, including those who are not currently full-time judges, and particularly encourages applications from those who would increase the diversity of the Court. The selection commission has launched targeted digital adverts and promoted the vacancy to relevant committees and groups of the Law Society, Bar Council and the Society of Legal Scholars (an association of university teachers of law), the Government Legal Service and equivalent government legal departments in the devolved nations.

This activity is further supported by:

  • A series of short podcasts, featuring interviews with serving Justices, which will launch on the Supreme Court’s website later this week. Justices speak about their career path and why they applied to become a Justice, as well as sharing insights into what the process felt like and what advice they would give someone thinking of applying; and
  • The offer of a confidential familiarisation telephone call, to discuss working at the Supreme Court with the Chief Executive or a Justice, for eligible candidates.
  • Under changes introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, where two candidates are deemed to be of equal merit, the commission can give preference to one candidate over the other for the purpose of increasing diversity within the Court.

The Lord Chancellor has a shared statutory responsibility for judicial diversity alongside the Lord Chief Justice and the Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). All three are members of the Judicial Diversity Forum, which brings together leaders from organisations across the legal sector to improve judicial diversity.

The Judicial Diversity Forum’s first combined statistical report was published on 17 September 2020, bringing together data on the diversity of the judiciary, judicial appointments and from the relevant legal professions (solicitors, barristers and legal executives). Published alongside the statistical report is a summary of the wide range of actions that its members are undertaking – at different career stages, either collectively or individually to help increase judicial diversity. The statistical report and the Action Plan were published on the Judicial Appointments Commission website: https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/news/new-combined-statistical-report-gives-insight-diversity-judiciary

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