Report: collaboration is key to achieving judicial diversity
An independent report to help the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF)* improve its effectiveness shows more can be done to ensure the group is working together to address barriers in the judicial selection process.
“We have been pushing the JDF from within for some time to be more ambitious and robust in its approach, so we welcome this external review. It reflects many of our recommendations, including adopting clearly defined impact targets to measure progress,” said Law Society of England and Wales president Lubna Shuja.
“The review highlights significant areas of concern and recommends practical ways to ensure JDF members are working effectively together to increase judicial diversity.
“The Law Society is proud to work with other JDF members to ensure the best pool of candidates is present for each judicial selection exercise.
“However, the JDF now needs to move much further on addressing barriers in the selection process, for instance by jettisoning the practice of asking sitting judges to consult on candidates before appointment.
“The review noted that robust data collection is crucial to monitor whether we are achieving our goals. This must be supported by a greater willingness from all JDF members to share data.
“In order to drive progress, the JDF must accept the review’s recommendations on having meaningful, concrete targets that ensure any activities really do improve diversity in the judiciary.”
Notes to editors
* The Judicial Diversity Forum brings together organisations from across the legal sector to identify ways to support increased judicial diversity. Find out more
Read the Bridge Group’s report on Strengthening the evaluation of JDF partners’ diversity initiatives
Read the Diversity of the Judiciary 2022 statistics report
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