The Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF) has published the annual ‘Diversity of the judiciary combined statistics report’ 2024. The JDF says the report “shows some encouraging figures on the representation of Asian and mixed ethnicity individuals but there is still much more work to be done. For instance, the representation of Black and other ethnic minorities in the judiciary has remained the same over the past ten years.”
Responding to the publication, Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:
“We welcome the publication of the judicial diversity statistics and the gradual progress being made.
“We note that ethnic minority candidates continue to be more likely to apply and less likely to be recommended and this warrants further investigation by the Judicial Appointments Commission. We, therefore, welcome the Lady Chief Justice’s commitment to focus on appointment of Black judges, as well as disabled judges, as a priority.
“Progression within a career at the Bar of those from under-represented groups is a priority for the Bar Council. Later this year we will be publishing our progress report on race at the Bar following the landmark report in 2021. In the meantime, initiatives such as the pre-application judicial education programme and our judicial appointments mentoring programme offer support, insight and the possibility of improvement of skills.”