News

Three more men have been appointed to the UK Supreme Court. Lord Justice Hughes will succeed Lord Dyson and Lord Justice Toulson will succeed Lord Walker. Both will be sworn in April. Lord Hodge will succeed Lord Hope, one of the two Scottish Justices, who retires on 27 June 2013, taking up his role at … Read more

In the same fortnight as it is reported that public pension cuts hit judges’ pensions and the three vacancies on the UK Supreme Court are filled by (yet more) white men, Lady Hale – the first, and so far only, female Supreme Court Justice – turned her attention to a number of ‘uncomfortable truths’ about … Read more

Only Azerbaijan and Armenia, employ fewer female professional judges than in England and Wales according to a report on ‘European judicial systems’ published by the Council of Europe in September 2012. This is in marked contrast to what the report describes as a gradual ‘feminisation of the judiciary resulting in near gender equality’ across Europe. … Read more

Books on judicial diversity are it seems, in at least one small respect, like London buses: you wait what seems a lifetime for one to turn up and then two are published at the same time. Sally Kenney’s Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter was published by Routledge in July 2012. … Read more

The Government has published its Response to the Constitution Committee’s Inquiry into the Judicial Appointments Process. This is the latest of a number of publications in recent weeks from the Government on this topic. It addresses the issues raised by the Select Committee which are not included in the new measures contained in the Crime … Read more

The 2012 Queen’s Speech announced plans to reform the courts and tribunals service to increase efficiency, transparency and judicial diversity. These are included in the Crime and Courts Bill 2012 introduced in the House of Lords at its first reading stage (formal introduction) on 10 May 2012. The Bill includes a number of measures targeted … Read more

In November 2011 the Ministry of Justice published a consultation that considered aims to improve the efficiency and diversity of judicial appointments. The consultation response has now been published, it outlines proposals which include: Transfering the Lord Chancellor’s current role, in making the selection decision in relation to particular courts-based appointments below the High Court, … Read more

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has published its report on Judicial Appointments. It concludes that a more diverse judiciary would improve public trust and confidence in the justice system. It makes a number of references to the written evidence submitted by Equal Justices Initiative (and to EJI members’ individual submissions). https://youtube.com/watch?v=U7mfGH1Nttg%3Frel%3D0 The Committee set … Read more

This insightful and important report, written by Alan Paterson and Chris Paterson, argues that senior judicial appointments including those to the Supreme Court are in need of significant reform. Read the ‘Guarding the Guardians’ report Alan Paterson and Chris Paterson’s article in the Guardian The report was also discussed by Joshua Rozenberg

The Ministry of Justice has been consulting on amendments to the statutory and regulatory frameworks for judicial appointments, together with improving judicial diversity. The Equal Justices Initiative submitted a response to the Consultation in which we argued that the are piecemeal and narrowly focused. In particular, the aims of achieving an appropriate balance between executive, … Read more