Judiciary

Question 1

The four eval points for judiciary

Answer 1

Education and Background
Lack of Women
Lack of BAME representation
Not a specific career route

Question 2

Education and Background

Answer 2

Most judges attended private school and so it isn’t very representative of society

From 1997-1999 73% of appointed judges went to a private school and 79% were Oxbridge - lack of social awareness to those who don’t have money

However judges should have best level of education as their job is so important

Question 3

Lack of Women

Answer 3

Courts, especially higher courts are male dominated and this is unreflective of society

First lady in CoA called ‘my lord’, and it took until 1998 for a lady to be appointed to CoA, 2004 for Supreme

However appointment commission are addressing this and 45% of appointments in 2020 were women

Question 4

Lack of BAME

Answer 4

There is a lack of diversity as a huge amount of judges are white and old, unreflective of society

This allows for potential discrimination - BAME makes up 13.8% of UK pop. but only 4% appointed of high court judges, 4% of circuit judges etc.

However, the judicial appointment committee is also trying to address this

Question 5

Not a specific career route

Answer 5

Barrister/solicitor first then judge, no specific training for the role, once they are judge they will be older so perhaps out of touch with society

There are some countries in Europe that offer a course that allows you to pursue the role of a judge after graduating University

However, this may be seen as a negative still as it could be argued they are too closely linked to the government and therefore may not be impartial