Lead Diversity and Community Relations Judge Marc Dight describes the JAC's 'Judge for Yourself' event, which took place in London in November 2012. The event aimed to encourage all members of the legal profession to consider a judicial career.
"You are very welcome, every single one of you, without exception, whatever your colour, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, background, or for that matter the background of your parents or grandparents. You are welcome whether your great grandmother was a suffragette, or both your grandfathers served prison sentences."
With those words the Lord Chief Justice's (LCJ) opening speech set the tone for what was to be a lively evening of highly interactive engagement, which celebrated diversity and actively encouraged all parts of the legal profession to consider a judicial career. Not only to consider it, but to put their questions directly to the judges.
The event, which was hosted by the Law Society in splendid surroundings, worked like this: 162 solicitors, Chartered Legal Executives and members of the Bar mingled with 56 host judges from the courts and tribunals. In practice, it operated as a kind of 'judicial speed dating', with delegates able to have the undivided attention of a judge and to ask whatever questions were of relevance to them. Delegates were able to get 'up close and personal', to ask what steps had been taken to get there, and to ask about the pitfalls. The LCJ had advised that being a judge is not easy and, after appointment, one takes on great burdens. But he also emphasised the very considerable (non-financial) rewards of the job. It was an evening all about possibility, opportunity and some self-reflection.
Of the 56 'hosts', many were my Diversity and Community Relations Judges (DCRJs), who have a particular remit to working towards a more diverse judiciary as well as reaching under-represented groups in society to improve mutual understanding between the judiciary and the general public. It has been my privilege to be the Lead DCRJ for the last three years and I know first-hand how much work individual judges put in with energetic enthusiasm and a commitment to really making a difference. They do this in a multitude of ways: both in their extensive outreach work and extending knowledge of the judiciary and the opportunities within it, to our colleagues in the law from whatever professional background and at whatever stage of their career.
The commitment to diversity and acknowledgement that there is strength in diversity from the LCJ was clear:
"So I want to speak to you about how I see it. Every human being is a unique human being. And because every human being is a unique human being, we are all different in one way or another. Some of the ways are obvious. There are adults and children. There are men and women. Skin colour varies – it varies among children in the same family. So does athleticism and physical prowess – even in the same family. So does brain power – even in the same family. And think if you can remember those of your grandparents, if you were lucky think of all four of them. All of them are or were different, and although you carry their genes, you are different from each of them.
"So what am I going on about? My message is very simple. When it comes to judicial appointment the obvious differences of gender, racial origin, social background, all of them and any of them, are differences which do not make any difference, which cannot make any difference, and which we will not allow to make any difference.
"I want the people best qualified to be judges to be appointed as judges. And only people of the necessary quality. No more, and certainly no less."
The event was very much a collaborative affair supported by The Ministry of Justice (represented by Helen Grant MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice), The Law Society (represented by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, President), the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (represented by Nick Hanning, President of The Chartered Institute), the Bar Council (represented by Michael Todd QC Chairman of the Bar) and the Judicial Appointments Commission (represented by Chris Stephens, Chairman of the JAC).
Reading some of the parting comments from participants at the end of the night was particularly rewarding. More events of this nature have been requested and many made clear that their encounters with the judges had been confidence-boosting and inspirational. One participant summed it up by saying, 'It has made me realise that I could join the judiciary. My understanding of the issues has been both enhanced and the whole system demystified. I think I could do it.' That is a message that I would like you to help me to pass on to all our colleagues who are ready to dip a toe into the judicial appointment pool.
Marc Dight
Lead Diversity and Community Relations Judge