Page 81 - Judicial Diversity Update report

Apply the “equal merit provision” at sift and shortlist stages.

4.19. Over the last two years, the equal merit provision (EMP) has failed to live
up to its promise as a diversity-enhancing tool; it was used three times in 2017-
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2018 (and in each case on the basis of gender) and not once in 2018-2019.
Our 2017 report recommended extending the adoption of the EMP to earlier
stages of the selection process.

4.20. We are pleased that in June 2019 the JAC extended the use of the EMP to
shortlisting as well as final decision-making stages of all appointment
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processes, which greatly expands its potential to increase diversity.

Introduce evidence-based training for selectors and judges.

4.21. We are pleased by the JAC’s focus on the training of panel members. We
understand that there is both general and exercise-specific training of lay and
judicial panel members that is mandatory and delivered in person by an
experienced trainer. The training includes information on the selection process
or the exercise, and on fair selection principles and approaches (including about
unconscious bias, transferable evidence, consistency in scoring and interview
skills). The JAC has recently introduced a new appraisal process where the
performance of lay members is formally reviewed every 18 months; which
supplements ‘peer review’ after each exercise led by Quality Assurance
Managers.

4.22. We welcome this monitoring and evaluation, though urge that it be extended
to gauging whether these processes may be increasing delivery of more diverse
appointments.

169 Judicial Appointments Commission, ‘Judicial Selection and Recommendations for Appointment:
Official Statistics, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018’, June 2018, available online at
https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sync/about_the_jac/official_statistics/statis
tics-bulletin-jac-2017-18.pdf
170 Judicial Appointments Commission, ‘Judicial Selection and Recommendations for Appointment:
Official Statistics, 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019’, June 2019, available online at
https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sync/about_the_jac/official_statistics/statis
tics-bulletin-jac-2018-19.pdf
171 ‘JAC extends the use of equal merit provision to shortlisting to support diversity’, Judicial
Appointments Commission, available online at https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/news/jac-
extends-use-equal-merit-provision-shortlisting-support-diversity
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