Page 79 - Judicial Diversity Update report

invested in directly supporting individuals at the Bar – including from minority
groups – whom they consider good candidates for the bench, with
encouragement, advice and support. While this is fantastic, as it is limited to
barristers who judges know through Chambers or come across in court, it serves
to further strengthen the existing pool. Senior solicitor judges – often supported
by the best efforts of the Law Society – are also exhaustively speaking at events
and encouraging applications from solicitor candidates, though the huge
numbers and spread of solicitors makes this much more challenging. Extended
formal and targeted mentoring of candidates from diverse backgrounds judged
as having potential could see the appointment of more diverse candidates.

4.12. It is also worth noting that there are several consultancies – which include
former JAC commissioners and panel members – who advise candidates on
their applications, for a fee. We are not in a position to evaluate how useful
these consultants are, but in that they offer insights into processes and ‘right
answers’ it is concerning that they would only be available to candidates of
means.

Appointing candidates from the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS) and Government Legal Department (GLD)

4.13. In our original report we recommended the exploration of the CPS and GLD
as diverse pools for judicial appointments; they have higher percentages of
senior women and BAME lawyers than much of the rest of the legal profession.
We are pleased by the JAC’s outreach to the CPS and are encouraged by the
appointment of six Crown Prosecutors as Recorders in the most recent Recorder
exercise (2019). Of these six, three were appointed to the Family jurisdiction
and one to the Civil jurisdiction. Two were appointed as Recorders in Crime,
though both had to resign from the CPS in order to take up the appointment.

4.14. While it is encouraging that the skills of a prosecutor appear to have been
valued in the selection processes, Crown Prosecutors pay a high price to secure
fee-paid sitting experience in their chosen jurisdiction. We reiterate our 2017
recommendation that in appropriate cases the de facto requirement that Circuit
judges have sat as Recorders be removed for experienced Crown Prosecutors.
To this end we were encouraged by the 2017 appointment of Graham Reeds
QC directly to the Circuit bench without any previous judicial experience.

4.15. We maintain that the GLD can be an important potential source of recruits
to the judiciary. We are pleased by outreach events targeting government

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