Judicial diversity in the UK: trying hard, could do better

Lord McNally, the UK Minister of State for Justice, has penned an article in The Guardian to highlight the state of diversity within the judiciary. According to the article, the proportion of judges that are female has increased from 10.3 per cent in 1998 to 20.6 per cent in 2010. The representation of black and minority ethnic judges has increased from 1.6 per cent in 1998 to 4.8 per cent in 2010. But these gains don’t go far or fast enough enough, according to his Honour: “I do not accept that a gradual trickle of change is a satisfactory response to the problem that we face”. Lord McNally - the ministerial representative on a judicial diversity taskforce – gives an account of steps that are being taken to address the problem including outreach programmes, the promotion of judicial career opportunities and a job-shadowing scheme. His concluding appraisal of the effort toward greater judicial diversity is: "Trying hard – could do better".

Judicial diversity in the UK: trying hard, could do better guardian.co.uk Tue, May 10, 2011