Quota system may be considered for judges
By Jack Doyle
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Quotas for ethnic minority and women judges could be part of new
proposals aimed at improving "diversity" in the judiciary. Baroness
Julia Neuberger, a government adviser, said she wanted to remove
"blockages" faced by applicants for judicial posts and make judges more
representative of society.
The Liberal Democrat peer will chair a panel of advisers selected by
Jack Straw, the Lord Chancellor, to propose ways to speed up the
appointment of judges who are not white men. By considering quotas, the
panel will find itself at loggerheads with the most senior judge in
England and Wales.
In a speech last month Sir Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, rejected
the idea, saying he wanted judges to be appointed on "merit" alone.
Baroness Neuberger today acknowledged proposed changes might be
"uncomfortable" for existing judges and said her "first instinct" was
not quotas. She said the panel would look at making judges' working
conditions more flexible, consider part-time working and career breaks.
She said making the judiciary look more like society would not change
individual decisions. But citing rape cases, she said the "texture" of
decisions might change with a woman judge.
Of the 110 high court judges in England and Wales, 16 are women and
three from an ethnic minority group.
Women make up less than a fifth and ethnic minorities less than 4 per
cent of circuit and district judges.
In the legal profession overall, a third of barristers and more than 40
per cent of solicitors are women. In both professions 11 per cent are
from ethnic minority groups.
Baroness Neuberger added: "There is also something about blockages at
different levels of the judiciary. And those are things I would want to
look at. Nothing is off the agenda and I am looking at practical things,
but if you said to me would my first instinct be to go for quotas, I
would say no. But that doesn't mean we won't look at it."
Sir Igor told a conference last month: "Appointment to the judiciary
should be based on merit. I reject any idea of quotas for appointment,
for a number of reasons, but not least because that would be
unacceptably patronising. No judge should believe... he or she was
chosen to fill a gap in a quota scheme."
Http://www.independ ent.co.uk/ news/uk/home- news/quota- system-may- be-
considered-for- judges-1675806. html
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