A Parliamentary report has found that the make up of judges is not sufficiently diverse and needs to better reflect society.
Diversity
The report by the House of Lords Constitution Committee states “a more diverse judiciary would increase public confidence in the justice system”. At present less than one in four judges are women and only 5% of judges are from an ethnic minority.
It is suggested that a number of steps need to be taken to ensure that judges are more representative. These include encouraging applications to become a judge from solicitors who are recognised by the report as being a more representative group of society.
The Chair of the Committee, Baroness Jay, said:
“It is vital that the public have confidence in our judiciary. One aspect of ensuring that confidence is a more diverse judiciary that fully reflects the wider population.”
