News

The Equal Justices Initiative (EJI) welcomes the appointment of Elena Kagan to the USSC. Kagan is the fourth woman to be appointed to the court and brings the total of women on the US Supreme Court bench, for the first time, to three. This is in stark contrast to the position of the UK Supreme … Read more…

The Ministry of Justice has publishes a statistical digest of judicial appointments of women and BME candidates from 1998/99 to 2008/09. The figures reveal some increase in the proportion of women applying and appointed to the lower ranks of the judiciary but very little change at the higher levels. The Ministry also stresses that the … Read more…

Professor Rosemary Hunter writes in the Barrister Magazine on the recent failure to appoint a second woman to the UK’s top court. Read Professor Hunter’s article [pdf 145kb]

We are delighted to learn that Lady Hale has been elected President of the International Association of Women Judges. Lady Hale was instrumental in setting up the UK Association of Women Judges and has long been a champion of bringing women (and male) judges together to talk about legal issues affecting women and women judges. … Read more…

The Equal Justices Initiative (EJI) welcomes the news that President Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to the USSC. If appointed, she will become the third woman out of nine justices on the court. In light of the recent controversy surrounding the application of Jonathan Sumption QC for appointment to the UK Supreme Court, we note … Read more…

Download the EJI response to the Report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity [PDF 100kb]

Sir John Dyson has been appointed as the twelfth member of the Supreme Court. While Sir John is a first-rate judge and is undoubtedly well-qualified to join the Supreme Court, it is deeply disappointing to see that the opportunity has been missed to appoint a second woman to the Court. Mary Arden was, apparently, short-listed … Read more…

The Report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity published on 26 February 2010. The report recommends a number of reforms, including the creation of a Judicial Diversity Taskforce. It calls for a ‘fundamental shift in approach from a focus on selection processes towards a judicial career that addresses diversity at every stage.’

The new UK Supreme Court opened in October 2009. Only one member of the Court is a woman. Lady Brenda Hale was appointed to the predecessor of the Supreme Court, the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords in 2003, the first and only female Law Lord. An opportunity to appoint a second female Supreme … Read more…

Linda Dobbs was appointed to the High Court Bench in October 2004. In 2009 she is still the only female lawyer from a BME background to be appointed to the High Court Bench. Linda was appointed to the Queens Bench Division in September 2004 having taken Silk in 1998. She takes an active interest in … Read more…