Report proposes positive discrimination for judges
26 February 2010
The Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity released a report this week calling for "positive action" to be used to improve the diversity of the Bench.

Currently only three of the 163 senior judges are from minority groups, something which the report suggests should be rectified through positive discrimination. It recommends that if there are two equally good candidates for a job, one from a minority group should be given priority over the other. However the report stopped short of recommending quotas for either women or ethnic minorities.

The panel was chaired by Baroness Neuberger, who said that she hoped the report would lead to the judiciary being more reflective of society within ten years. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said that he welcomed the recommendations.

A judicial selection panel yesterday

The report also recommends that all candidates, regardless of their background, should have experience of "diversity in either their professional or private lives". Well, to be fair, judges generally managed a fair degree of diversity in their private lives before the report came out, but it's nice to see that they are being encouraged.