A diverse judiciary would benefit both the courts and society, the UK’s only female justice of the Supreme Court has said.
Giving the Fiona Woolf Lecture last week at the Law Society’s Women Lawyers’ Division, Lady Hale said the principal reason for diversity in the judiciary is “democratic legitimacy…the judiciary should reflect the whole community”.
Women account for about a quarter of judges overall, while 21 out of 107 High Court judges, and seven out of 43 Lord Justices of Appeal and Heads of Division are women. Among the men Supreme Court justices, all but two went to boys’ boarding school, Oxbridge and the Inns of Court.
Non-standard candidates are disadvantaged at various stages along the way, Lady Hale said, for example, students from independent schools are more likely to go to Oxbridge regardless of their exam grades.
She advocated widening recruitment to the legal profession, actively supporting able but unusual candidates to apply, and creating a proper judicial career structure.
