Page 20 - Judicial Diversity Update report

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All senior 203 26% 227 28% 248 30.3%
courts
All courts 890 28% 875 29% 1,013 32%
(exc.
Tribunals)

The sitting cohort in 2019

2.2. Overall, in 2019 the proportion of women judges in courts increased to 32%
(compared with 46% in the tribunals). As with other minorities, the
representation of women in judicial office declines with the seniority of the
court. However, the proportion of women in senior courts has increased by
four per cent (to 30%) since 2017.
JAC exercises (2017/18 – 2018/19)

Table 2. Summary of main figures regarding women in Circuit judge, High Court
judge and all legal exercises: 2017-18 and 2018-19 compared

Eligible Applicants Shortlisted Appointed Women:
Pool Men
31
RRI

30 The total number of judges in the senior courts as at April 2018 was 804; see Judicial Diversity
Statistics 2018 (n 26 above).

31 Judicial Appointments Commission, ‘Judicial Selection and Recommendations for Appointment:
Official Statistics, 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019’, June 2019, p.12, available online at
https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sync/about_the_jac/official_statistics/statis
tics-bulletin-jac-2018-19.pdf; Judicial Appointments Commission, ‘Judicial Selection and
Recommendations for Appointment: Official Statistics, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018’, June 2018,
p.19, available online at
https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sync/about_the_jac/official_statistics/statis
tics-bulletin-jac-2017-18.pdf. The Relative Rate Index (RRI) is a statistical approach to compare the
relative differences in rates of appointment between two groups. It provides a means of measuring levels
of disparity in appointment rates across different time periods. An RRI value of 1 indicates no disparity
(i.e. the two groups are appointed at the same rate); an RRI greater than 1 indicates that the group of
interest (women, BAME candidates etc.) are more likely to be appointed than the baseline group; and
RRI of less than 1 indicates that the group of interest was less likely to be appointed. The JAC does not
consider an RRI that falls within the range of 0.8 to 1.25 to indicate disparity; however values outside
this range indicate the presences of an adverse impact. JAC, Definitions and Measurement: Background
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