Page 38 - Judicial Diversity Update report

lawyers still provides a much better comparator than the working age population
as this is the potential pool of people from whom the judiciary is actually drawn.
The proportion of BAME lawyers in fact exceeds the proportion of BAME
individuals in the general population. Furthermore, for no other diversity
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characteristic (for example disability) is the working age population used as a
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comparator.

In addition, if the argument held true one would expect that the proportion of
BAME younger judges would reflect the greater proportion of BAME individuals
in the younger working age population. However, in all age categories, BAME
judicial representation is lower than that of the equivalent category in the working
age population, in particular in the under 40s category.
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Our recommendation to use the legal professions, possibly with reference to age
distribution within the professions, as a more valid denominator, stands.

85 In 2018, nearly 17% of solicitors with practising certificates were BAME while the proportion of
BAME barristers at the Bar was 13%. See: The Law Society, Trends in the solicitors’ profession Annual
Statistics Report 2018, 2019, available online at https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-
services/research-trends/annual-statistics-report-2018/; Bar Standards Board, Diversity at the Bar 2018,
February 2019, pp.3-4, available online at
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/uploads/assets/1fda3d4b-c7e3-4aa8-
a063024155c7341d/diversityatthebar2018.pdf. The most recent Census in 2011 highlights that in
England and Wales, 86 per cent of the population were white British. Asian ethnic groups made up 7.5%
of the population; Black ethnic groups 3.3%; Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%; and Other ethnic
groups 1.0%. See: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-
ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest
86 Whilst the JAC refer to the general population in respect of disability they strongly caution the use of
statistics given the unlikely correlation to the eligible pool for judicial appointment
87 Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, ‘Judicial Diversity Statistics 2019’, July 2019, p.8, available online
at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Judicial-Diversity-Statistics-2019.pdf.
Among those aged 40-49, BAME representation was lower among court judges than in the general
population (10% compared to 16%), whilst amongst court judges aged under 40 BAME representation
was much lower than the general population figure of 20%, but this age group accounts for only 4% of
court judges and there are further limitations to this comparison. (ibid, p.8)

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