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 most impact—in senior and visible positions. A blinkered reliance on those
