Page 29 - Judicial Diversity Update report

Race and ethnicity

Sitting cohort (2019)

59 60
Table 3. The proportion of BAME judges in senior courts (2017-2019)
2017 2018 2019
N % N % N %
Supreme 0 - 0 - 0 -
Court
61
Court of 0 - 2 7% 2 6%
Appeal *JUSTICE *JUSTICE
calculation: 3.5% calculation: 2.5%
62
63 64
(1) (1)

59 This is the percentage of BAME of those judges who declared ethnicity.
60 There is a serious problem with data in respect of protected characteristics. Data collected on
ethnicity is broadly classified, so for example the percentage of “Asian/Asian British” may include a
variety of ethnicities. The inclusion of white ethnic minorities can be problematic: official BAME
figures can be confusing on the number of visible BAME judges. For example, in the Court of Appeal
in 2018 7% are listed as “BAME” (1 “Asian/Asian British” and 1 “other ethnic group”), but in fact
only 1 justice in the Court of Appeal (3.5%) was not white. JUSTICE surmises that the “other” BAME
justice is from a white ethnic minority group. This approach to diversity monitoring contrasts with that
of the QC Selection Panel: their website provides the percentage of “applicants who declared an ethnic
origin other than white”, see Report by the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel to the Lord Chancellor
On The Process For The Selection And Appointment of Queen’s Counsels 2018, 2018, p. 20, available
online at http://www.qcappointments.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Report-of-the-QC-Selection-
Panel-for-England-and-Wales-2018.pdf.
61 The official statistics count 2 BAME judges in the Court of Appeal: 1 – ‘Asian or Asian British’,
and 1- ‘other ethnic group’. The declaration rate for this category in CoA is 79% which is quite low,
and the proportion of BAME judges is calculated of the total number of judges who declared their
ethnicity, not of the total Court of Appeal judges (https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/judicial-diversity-statistics-2018-1.pdf, p.5). However, JUSTICE
examination found only one visibly verifiable BAME judge for this court (Lord Justice Singh).
62 This calculation is a percentage of the total Court of Appeal judges.
63 Lord Justice Singh is still the only visibly verifiable BAME justice in the Court of Appeal.
64 This calculation is a percentage of the total Court of Appeal judges.
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