Page 35 - Judicial Diversity Update report

2.39. In 2018 JAC statisticians began a ‘deep dive’ statistical analysis of candidate
progression, designed to help us to better understand the progression of certain
target groups, including BAME candidates, through selection exercises. The
exercise uses logistical regression to control for a range of factors such as
professional background, age and pre-qualification experience. However, the
Judicial Diversity Forum have noted the volatility of the data and agreed to
consider the analysis further once a larger and more stable dataset is available.

2.40. The last two years have seen concerted and laudable outreach efforts from the
JAC and the judiciary to lawyers from ethnic minorities. These appear to have
been successful in that application rates from BAME candidates have been
high, sometimes higher than their share of the eligible pool. However, they
have not resulted in BAME judges being appointed. In the course of our work,
it has been suggested that the outreach activities have attracted candidates who
are, for some reason, unsuitable or unready for judicial appointment. Others
have intimated that the appointments processes themselves contain biases
against BAME candidates. It is obviously critical and urgent to understand why
BAME individuals are not being appointed, and for outreach and appointment
processes to be amended accordingly.

2.41. Second, since our last report the JAC statistics on ethnicity have included
statistical reference to the ‘working age population’ as a contextual comparator
to explain the low numbers of BAME judges appointed to the senior judiciary.
For the reasons set out in the box on page 24, we reject the introduction of the
‘working age population’ analysis. We do not think that it is necessary nor
helpful. Instead it acts to minimise the seriousness of the failure to appoint
BAME candidates and detracts from the JAC’s ‘deep dive’ efforts to uncover
the reasons for lack of success. We urge the JAC and senior judiciary to
abandon use of this approach.

2.42. Third, with only three BAME judges on the High Court and one in the Court
of Appeal, there is little possibility of an ethnically diverse Court of Appeal or
Supreme Court anytime soon. Again, we recommend efforts to recruit talented
BAME jurists to these courts from outside the sitting judiciary.

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