Page 12 - Judicial Diversity Update report

communities. A judiciary that markedly fails to reflect the ethnic, gender and
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social composition of the nation poses a serious constitutional challenge.

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1.11. Increasing the diversity of our judiciary (including ‘cognitive diversity’ ) is
also about improving the quality of judgments. A large body of evidence
confirms that different but complementary perspectives are better for collective
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decision-making than homogenous ones. This is critical when judges sit in
panels, but is valuable also to judges sitting alone, who benefit from the
wisdom of their colleagues whether through personal contact or reading their
decisions. In the commercial world, numerous wide-ranging studies
demonstrate the direct correlation between increased gender and ethnic
diversity in senior decision making and increased profitability and
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performance.

1.12. The task of judging is difficult and demanding, and the range of cases in which
judgments must be made is extremely broad. The quality of those judgments
will be vastly improved as a result of the different perspectives brought to
decision-making by those with different characteristics and life experiences.
We have taken evidence from several judges who have lamented the absence
of judicial colleagues from different social and ethnic backgrounds, with whom

4 D Lammy, The Lammy Review: An independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for,
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System, (2017), p.37.
5 A. Paterson & C. Paterson, Guarding the Guardians?, towards an independent, accountable and
senior judiciary, (Centre Forum, 2015), p.37.
6 Cognitive diversity is the inclusion of people who think differently or process information
differently, specifically looking at problem-solving and how individuals think about and engage with
new, uncertain, and complex situations.
7 I. Bohnet, What Works, (Harvard University Press, 2016), Chapter 11, pp.229-30; J. Surowiecki, The
Wisdom of Crowds, (Anchor, 2005), Chapter 2. See also: D.L. Rhode, Lawyers As Leaders, (Oxford
University Press, 2015), p.47: famously, some American presidents surround themselves with a “team
of rivals” to avoid the “perils of insular thinking” (including Presidents Lincoln and Obama); The Rt.
Hon. Sir Terence Etherton, Liberty, the archetype and diversity: a philosophy of judging, Public Law,
2010, p.11.
8 See, for example, V. Hunt et al, Why diversity matters, McKinsey & Company, January 2018,
available online at https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-
diversity-matters; Credit Suisse Research Institute, Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance,
2012, available online at https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us-news/en/articles/media-
releases/42035-201207.html
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