Question – Judicial Diversity
“The law, the legal profession and the courts are there to serve the whole population, not
just a small section of it. They should be as reflective of that population as it is possible to
be.”
– Brenda Hale, February 2018, Courts and Judiciary should reflect diversity of UK, The
Guardian.
With reference to the statement above, discuss the necessity of the emphasis on judicial
diversity and whether a diverse judiciary would arrive at a different decision than that of a
conservative judiciary.
Answer:
The English Legal System had served the people well for centuries. Since the Magna
Carta 1215 is issued by King John, the principle which stated that everyone, including the
king, are dominated by law was developed. 1 This led to the establishment of courts, which
symbolises the law. From the first common law court, Curia Regis, until the modern court
nowadays, the Supreme Court, are the evidences that prove the law is evolving. The
principal characters in the courts, which are the judges, are equipped with several
responsibilities to ensure the presence of justice. Firstly, judges are the people who apply
the law which passed or established by the parliament in the courts. 2 They give judgements
based on parliament acts and statues to the people who disobey or break them. Secondly,
they are involved in the works of statutory interpretation. To elaborate this, many cases
come before the courts for the reason of dispute of the meaning of statues. 3 For an
instance, under the Dangerous Dog Act 1991, there is a phrase ‘any dog of the type known
1 The Magna Carta 1215
2 Lady Justice Arden, The Judicial System of England and Wales: A visitor’s guide, 38-39.
3 ibid
, as the pit bull terrier’ but it is unclear whether ‘type’ is the same meaning as ‘breed’. 4
Therefore, their job is to clarify the meaning of statues according to a few rules and form a
precedent for future cases. Thirdly, they also equipped with the responsibility to settle
controversy and conflict among parties.5 They identify right or wrong in cases, make
decision and give remedy to the parties.
In order to accomplish the task given, judges have to be integrity, good thinking and
most importantly, impartial. These virtues lead the judges to have good reputation in
fairness integrity and also the soundness of judgment. However, the reputation is
threatened since the administration of law fails to attune the needs of the diverse society. In
1992, Lord Taylor, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales stated that it is obvious that in
the judiciary, the proportion between male and female, black and white are imbalance, and
he expected he would see a substantial number of appointments from both these groups
within five years.6 Unfortunately, until the April of 2012, statistics shows that only 23% of
judiciary in England and Wales were women compared with 51% of the population at large
whereas only 4% were from ethnic minorities, compared with 12% of the population at
large.7 Although the proportion of women and ethnic minorities in the judiciary has
doubled, and even trebled comparing to the past, it was still a disappointing fact.
Why does it happens? What makes the culture in judiciary monotonous? Lord
Neuberger described the current judiciary with the characteristics of ‘male, white,
graduated at public school, and from the upper middle and middle classes’. 8 To determine
the factor of current situation, first we must recognise the selection process of judges.
The Judicial Appointments System and Judicial Diversity
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA 2005) had formed the current judicial
appointments system. Before the CRA 2005, inferior judicial posts are made in a form of
open competitions which is advertised in newspaper and legal journal whilst the senior
4 Dangerous Dog Act 1991
5 Arden (n 2) 38-39
6 Lord Taylor, The Judiciary in the Nineties, Richard Dimbleby Lecture, 1992.
7 Lord Sumption, Home Truths about Judicial Diversity, Bar Council Law Reform Lecture, 15 November 2012, 2.
8 Catherine Baksi, Neuberger floats career judiciary to boost diversity, Law Society’s Gazette (London, 17
September 2014) 4.
“The law, the legal profession and the courts are there to serve the whole population, not
just a small section of it. They should be as reflective of that population as it is possible to
be.”
– Brenda Hale, February 2018, Courts and Judiciary should reflect diversity of UK, The
Guardian.
With reference to the statement above, discuss the necessity of the emphasis on judicial
diversity and whether a diverse judiciary would arrive at a different decision than that of a
conservative judiciary.
Answer:
The English Legal System had served the people well for centuries. Since the Magna
Carta 1215 is issued by King John, the principle which stated that everyone, including the
king, are dominated by law was developed. 1 This led to the establishment of courts, which
symbolises the law. From the first common law court, Curia Regis, until the modern court
nowadays, the Supreme Court, are the evidences that prove the law is evolving. The
principal characters in the courts, which are the judges, are equipped with several
responsibilities to ensure the presence of justice. Firstly, judges are the people who apply
the law which passed or established by the parliament in the courts. 2 They give judgements
based on parliament acts and statues to the people who disobey or break them. Secondly,
they are involved in the works of statutory interpretation. To elaborate this, many cases
come before the courts for the reason of dispute of the meaning of statues. 3 For an
instance, under the Dangerous Dog Act 1991, there is a phrase ‘any dog of the type known
1 The Magna Carta 1215
2 Lady Justice Arden, The Judicial System of England and Wales: A visitor’s guide, 38-39.
3 ibid
, as the pit bull terrier’ but it is unclear whether ‘type’ is the same meaning as ‘breed’. 4
Therefore, their job is to clarify the meaning of statues according to a few rules and form a
precedent for future cases. Thirdly, they also equipped with the responsibility to settle
controversy and conflict among parties.5 They identify right or wrong in cases, make
decision and give remedy to the parties.
In order to accomplish the task given, judges have to be integrity, good thinking and
most importantly, impartial. These virtues lead the judges to have good reputation in
fairness integrity and also the soundness of judgment. However, the reputation is
threatened since the administration of law fails to attune the needs of the diverse society. In
1992, Lord Taylor, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales stated that it is obvious that in
the judiciary, the proportion between male and female, black and white are imbalance, and
he expected he would see a substantial number of appointments from both these groups
within five years.6 Unfortunately, until the April of 2012, statistics shows that only 23% of
judiciary in England and Wales were women compared with 51% of the population at large
whereas only 4% were from ethnic minorities, compared with 12% of the population at
large.7 Although the proportion of women and ethnic minorities in the judiciary has
doubled, and even trebled comparing to the past, it was still a disappointing fact.
Why does it happens? What makes the culture in judiciary monotonous? Lord
Neuberger described the current judiciary with the characteristics of ‘male, white,
graduated at public school, and from the upper middle and middle classes’. 8 To determine
the factor of current situation, first we must recognise the selection process of judges.
The Judicial Appointments System and Judicial Diversity
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA 2005) had formed the current judicial
appointments system. Before the CRA 2005, inferior judicial posts are made in a form of
open competitions which is advertised in newspaper and legal journal whilst the senior
4 Dangerous Dog Act 1991
5 Arden (n 2) 38-39
6 Lord Taylor, The Judiciary in the Nineties, Richard Dimbleby Lecture, 1992.
7 Lord Sumption, Home Truths about Judicial Diversity, Bar Council Law Reform Lecture, 15 November 2012, 2.
8 Catherine Baksi, Neuberger floats career judiciary to boost diversity, Law Society’s Gazette (London, 17
September 2014) 4.
