Andrea Coomber, Director of JUSTICE said:
It is a day of two halves. It is wonderful that three such outstanding jurists have been appointed to the Supreme Court, and that Lady Hale will be its new President. For 45 years, JUSTICE has been urging greater diversity in the senior judiciary and today if feels as if the tide has started to turn. News of Lady Hale’s presidency is cause for celebration and with the appointment of Dame Jill Black, the number of women on our highest court will double, increasing confidence in a more inclusive and diverse senior judiciary. Obviously there is still a long way to go before the Supreme Court starts to reflect the composition of the society which it serves, but today’s appointments are encouraging.
However, the news of appointments to the Court of Appeal is more concerning with only one in seven appointments a woman. There is a silver lining in the appointment of Mr Justice Rabinder Singh, but without more diverse appointments to the Court of Appeal our senior judiciary will remain unrepresentative of British society.