Page 36 - Judicial Diversity Update report

2.43. Fourth, the very small numbers of BAME judges means that a meaningful
analysis of the way in which ethnicity intersects with other factors such as
gender, socio-economic background or age, is not possible. This undermines
our ability to properly understand the full experience of BAME candidates and
how they might progress.

2.44. Finally, we are concerned about the data collection with respect to BAME
candidates and judges. As noted in our earlier report, we are uncomfortable
with the statistical classification of ‘BAME’, a broad category that tends to
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homogenise all people of colour. The use of such a broad term can also give
a distorted picture of the ethnic and racial mix of the judiciary. For example,
in the High Court and Court of Appeal, all four of the serving BAME judges
are of Asian origin; none is of Afro-Caribbean origin. Dame Linda Dobbs –
appointed before the establishment of the JAC – is the only judge of Afro-
Caribbean origin ever to have served in a salaried role on the High Court or
above. There has never been a black male High Court judge. While the
appointment statistics for ‘BAME’ judges are poor, they are even worse for
‘black’ judges. In the course of our work, we have been assured that there is a
pipeline of future Asian-origin judges, alongside recognition that there is no
such pipeline of black judges. This needs to be explored and addressed as a
matter of priority.

2.45. There is also a problem with sitting judges declining to declare their ethnicity.
In the Court of Appeal, for example, seven justices (18%) did not provide any
ethnicity data. For the critical feeder route of Deputy High Court Judge, 29%
declined. Without reliable, comprehensive data on ethnicity, the ability to
measure progress will be undermined. It is important to ensure that those
responding to demographic surveys fully understand both the nature of the data
sought to be captured and why the collection of such data is of critical
importance.
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82 We note that the official Judicial Diversity statistics use the term BAME, but also provide a
breakdown to ethnicity categories: Asian or Asian British; Black or Black British; Mixed Ethnicity
and Other Ethnic Group.
83 We are also concerned about the way in which ethnicity data is captured. Currently candidates for
judicial office and sitting judges are asked to self-identify as ‘BAME’. The process can lead to unusual
results, with ‘minority ethnic’ being used by some judges to describe a religious affiliation. For
example, one judge told us that, though they are White British, they declared themselves to be BAME
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