Posts Tagged ‘judicial appointments’
What do judges think about their job?
The UK Judicial Attitude Survey is a longitudinal survey conducted by Prof Cheryl Thomas of the University College London Judicial Institute. It covers all serving salaried judges in England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It assesses judges’ views and experiences of their working lives over time. The results of the 3rd JAS were published in February 2021; earlier surveys were published in 2016 and 2014. With close to 100% participation over 6 years, this report provides a reliable assessment of judicial attitudes to their working lives and how they may have changed over this time period. The following note, which I have adapted from the Executive Summary, sets out the headline findings.
1 General feelings
Virtually all judges feel they provide an important service to society and have a strong personal attachment to being a member of the judiciary. They have a deep commitment to their job.
While judges feel most valued by their judicial colleagues at court, court staff, the legal profession and parties in cases, only two thirds feel valued by the public. Very few judges feel valued by the Government (9%) or the media (12%), and no judges feel greatly valued by the Government or media.
2 Working conditions
A majority of judges said that working conditions were worse than they were two years ago,
The courts judiciary feels working conditions have deteriorated more in the last two years than do judges in UK tribunals.
A majority of judges rated the following as Good or Excellent: security at court, quality of administrative support and physical quality of judges’ personal work space. One working condition rated Poor by a majority of judges was the morale of court and tribunal staff.
Over a third of judges continue to have concerns about their safety out of court.
Almost half of all judges said they would like more guidance on how to deal with internet and social media coverage of their work as a judge.
3. Salary and pensions
Most judges were paid more before they became a judge than they are paid in post. Two-thirds of all salaried judges feel that their pay and pension entitlement combined does not adequately reflect the work they have done and will do before retirement.
4. IT Resources and the New Digital Programme
A majority of judges said that the standard of IT equipment provided to them personally to use in 2020 had improved from 2014 and 2016, and that internet access and IT support in 2020 had also both improved from 2014 and 2016. But they felt that the standard of IT equipment used in courts and tribunals in 2020 had continued to decline since 2014 and 2016.
By 2020 virtually all salaried judges were on e-Judiciary (the internal web-based communications system), and most judges rated it as either Excellent to Good or Adequate.
By 2020 wifi was available in nearly all court/hearing rooms. Most judges rated its quality as Excellent/Good or Adequate.
5. Working during the Covid-19 emergency
During May-June 2020, a majority of judges said that the judiciary was managing change well during the Covid-19 emergency. The extent to which judges were working in their court or tribunal varied substantially by judicial post during the first lockdown in May-June 2020.
6 Future planning
A large proportion of the salaried judiciary say they might consider leaving the judiciary early over the next 5 years. In 2020, a new factor, “lack of respect for the judiciary by government”, was more significant in prompting judges to leave early than any other factor identified in 2016. There was also a substantial increase from 2016 in judges who said that stressful working conditions, increases in workload and further demands for out of hours work would make them more likely to leave the judiciary early.
A majority of judges said the same 3 factors would make them more likely to remain in the judiciary: higher remuneration, better administrative support and restoration of previous pension entitlements.
7. Recruitment
In 2020, almost two-thirds of all judges said they would encourage suitable people to apply to the judiciary. The main reasons for this were: the chance to contribute to justice being done , the challenge of the work, public service and intellectual satisfaction
The full report is available at https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/judicial-attitudes-survey/
Encouraging Judicial Diversity
In April 2019, the Judicial Diversity Forum launched a new initiative designed to encourage talented lawyers from the Black and Ethnic Minority community to think about applying to become a judge. The first part of this programme is a series of YouTube videos – which can be watched by anyone interest. A further part of the programme – judge-led discussion group courses – will launch later in 2019.
This is the first joint initiative of the Judicial Diversity Forum, which is made up of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), The Bar Council, The Law Society of England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). Forum members are committed to delivering actions that attract applicants for judicial roles from all backgrounds to achieve a more diverse judiciary.
PAJE offers participants from all legal backgrounds the opportunity to develop their understanding of the role and skills required of a judge, through a series of digital resources including 10 short online videos and four podcasts, developed by the Judicial College, which show judges talking about their work and the Judiciary.
These digital resources cover a number of topics such as judgecraft, decision-making, judicial ethics, resilience and equality and diversity.
For further information see https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/diversity/pre-application-judicial-education-programme-paje/
The YouTube videos may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3XytDJY8a3I9_vL7A_5SQ
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Diversity in the Judiciary: slow progress
The judicial diversity statistics were published on 12 July 2018. They are based in information as at 1 April 2018. The statistics show there has been further, albeit slow, progress in the appointment of women in judicial posts; there has been some progress, though less than for women, in the appointment of those from Black and Ethnic Minorities groups as judges. that:
- 29% of court judges and 46% of tribunal judges were female. 50% of non-legal members of tribunals were female.
- Around half of court judges aged under 50 are female. Females outnumber males among tribunal judges at all age groups under 60.
- 24% of Judges in the Court of Appeal and in the High Court were female.
- 41% of Upper Tribunal Judges were female.
- Since 2014 there has been a 5-percentage point increase in female representation among court judges.
- 8% of judges identified as BAME (7% of court and 11% of tribunal judges); non-legal tribunal members 17%
- BAME representation among court judges aged 40 or over (98% of judges) was only slightly below that of the working age general population in each age band, while BAME representation among tribunal judges was higher than that of the working age general population at all age bands from 40 and over. Non-legal members have considerably higher BAME representation than that of the working age general population at all age groups.
- A third of court judges and two thirds of tribunal judges are from non-barrister backgrounds.
- More than half of magistrates were female (55%)
- 12% of magistrates declared themselves as BAME.
- There were very few magistrates aged under 40 (4%) compared with 55% of magistrates who were aged over 60.
On 27 June 2018 (outside the period used for the report) the appointment of three Lady Justices and four Lord Justices of Appeal were announced. On 9 July 2018 the appointment of five High Court Judges were announced, three of which were male and two of which were female. These will be reflected in the statistics for 2019.
The full report is available at https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/diversity/judicial-diversity-statistics-2018/
There are two major challenges relating to judicial appointments which have been aired recently.
First, there are concerns at the significant reduction in the numbers of Lay Justices who sit in Magistrates’ Court.
Second, there are concerns about unfilled appointments to the High Court, attributed to recent reductions in the pay and benefits associated with these appointments. This is an issue currently under review by the Senior Salaries Review Body. The outcome of the consultation is currently awaited. It was the subject of a recent speech given by the Lord Chief Justice.
See https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/major-review-of-the-judicial-salary-structure
The Lord Chief Justice’s speech is at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20180704-lcj-speech-mansion-house-speech.pdf
Increasing diversity in the Judiciary
There has long been a desire to see more female and black and minority ethnic (BAME) people appointed to the judiciary. The present Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas has promoted a number of initiatives designed to build on work already started by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
In April 2017, the Judicial Diversity Committee of the Judges’ Council published its latest report on progress together with – for the first time – an Action Plan for activities to be undertaken in 2017-2018.
The headline objectives of the Committee are set out in the report as follows:
In the next 12 months, we will –
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continue our dialogue with BAME lawyers better to understand the barriers they face and identify what more the judiciary can do to support them;
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work with the Law Society, Bar Council and CILEx to ensure that we are doing all we can to reach the broadest range of talent;
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encourage more networking among the existing courts and tribunals judiciary;
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run more workshops to support a greater number of candidates from under-represented groups to prepare for the selection process;
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further develop our communications to potential candidates and those who have an interest in judicial diversity; and
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improve the monitoring and evaluation of our initiatives.
While these aims may seem little bland, detailed reading of the report reveals that there is intended to be an extensive programme of workshops, mentoring, outreach and other initiative designed to encourage those from groups currently under-represented in the judiciary to think about law and a judicial career.
The report also provides a link to a number of judges talking about their experience in becoming a judge – designed to inspire others to contemplate following their path. See https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/judges-career-paths/videos-judges-talk-about-their-judicial-careers/
The report is at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/judicial-diversity-committee-of-the-judges-council-report-on-progress-and-action-plan-2016-17/
Transforming the Justice System: the Prisons and Courts Bill 2017
Enromous changes to the ways in which courts – both criminal and civil – and tribunals operate have already been foreshadowed in a number of policy documents published during 2016. Parts 2 to 4 of the Prisons and Courts Bill contain provisions that will give statutory authority to the changes that have been proposed.
The headline provisions may be set out as follows:
Part 2 creates new procedures in civil, family, tribunal and criminal matters.
It makes changes to court procedures in the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts to make processes and case management more efficient.
It allows some offenders charged with summary-only, non-imprisonable offences to be convicted and given standard penalties using a new online procedure.
It extends the use of live audio and video links, and ‘virtual’ hearings where no parties are present in the court room but attend by telephone or video conferencing facilities.
It makes provision which will apply across the civil, criminal and tribunal jurisdictions to ensure public participation in proceedings which are heard virtually (by the streaming of hearings), including the creation of new criminal offences to guard against abuse, for example by recording such stramed hearings.
It creates a new online procedure rules committee that will be able to create new online procedure rules in relation to the civil, tribunal and family jurisdictions.
It bans cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses – in particular those who have been the subject of domestic abuse – in certain family cases.
It confers the power to make procedure rules for employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal on the Tribunal Procedure Committee and extends the membership of the Committee to include an employment law practitioner and judge or non-legal member.
Part 3 contains measures relating to the organisation and functions of courts and tribunals.
It extends the role of court and tribunal staff authorised to exercise judicial functions giving the relevant procedure rules committees the power to authorise functions in their respective jurisdictions.
It abolishes local justice areas, enabling magistrates to be appointed on a national basis, not just to a specific local justice area.
It replaces statutory declarations with statements of truth in certain traffic and air quality enforcement proceedings.
It makes reforms to the arrangements for the composition of employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
It enables the High Court to make attachment of earnings orders for the recovery of money due under a judgment debt, as far as practicable, on the same basis as in the County Court.
Part 4 contains measures relating to the judiciary and the Judicial Appointments Commission.
It enables more flexible deployment of judges by enabling them to sit in different jurisdictions.
It brings the arrangements for the remuneration of judges and members of employment tribunals – currently undertaken by the Secretary of State for Employment – under the remit of the Lord Chancellor.
It rationlises the roles of judges in leadership positions who will support a reformed courts and tribunals system. (This includes provision to abolish the statutory post of Justice Clerk; this role will continue, but those qualified to be Clerks will also be able to undertake analogous work in other court/tribunal contexts.)
It gives the Judicial Appointments Commission the power to carry out more work (not directly related to judicials appointments) on a cost-recovery basis.
Source, Explanatory Notes to the Prisons and Courts Bill 2017, available at https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2016-2017/0145/en/17145en02.htm
Diversity in the Judiciary
For a number of years, it has been accepted that there should be greater diversity among the judiciary. The gender and ethnicity of the judiciary should broadly reflect the gender and ethnicity of the population as a whole. There has been considerable effort to more the judiciary away from their ‘white, male, upper middle class’ image.
The present Lord Chief Justice is determined that progress towards a more balanced judiciary should be advanced. The latest Judicial Diversity Statistics, published in July 2016, indicate that some progress has been made.
The headline findings are that in April 2016:
- The number of woman Court of Appeal Judges remains the same as last year at eight out of 39 (21 per cent).
- Twenty two out of 106 High Court Judges are women (21 per cent). In April 2015 the number was 21 (20 per cent).
- In the courts the percentage of female judges has increased from April 2015 to April 2016 from 25% to 28%. In tribunals it remained stable at 45%.
- The number of female Circuit Judges increased from 146 in April 2015 to 160 in April 2016 (from 23 per cent to 26 per cent)
- More than half (51 per cent) of the 85 court judges who are under 40 years of age are women (53% last year). In tribunals, 64 per cent of the 56 judges under 40 are women (56% last year)
- The percentage of judges who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)is 5% in courts (6% last year), and in tribunals 9% (stable since 2015). This is higher for judges under 40 – 8% (6% last year) for courts and 14% (15% last year) for tribunals.
- A third (34%, compared with 36% in 2015) of court judges and two thirds (65%, compared with 67% in 2015) of tribunal judges are from non-barrister backgrounds. Judges in lower courts more likely to come from a non-barrister background.
The conclusions that may be drawn from these findings is that some progress has been made in the appointment of women as judges; but the numbers of BAME judges remain low.
In order to encourage applications, particularly from women and BAME candidates, the Judges Council has established a Judicial Diversity Committee, which undertakes different events and initiatives to encourage a wider range of candidates to apply for judicial appointment. They have recently published their first report.
Their work includes:
- sponsoring networking events;
- running a judicial shadowing programme;
- appointing judicial role models from the existing bench to provide advice and guidance to potential applicants.
One pilot initiative relates to developing ways to encouraging applications for appointment to the High Court bench from those who have not had practice experience as a barrister, including leading academics.
To see the Judicial Diversity Statistics, go to https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/judicial-diversity-statistics-2016-2.pdf.
The report of the Judicial Diversity Committee is at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/judicial-diversity-committee-progress-report-13-16.pdf
Determining judicial pay – current concerns
Each year, the pay of judges is determined – along with other public sector senior appointments – by the Government, following recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Board.
They come to their views in the light of evidence received from government and the judiciary themselves.
In January 2016, the Ministry of Justice’s evidence to the Board was published. It provides a great deal of statistical material on the judiciary – both in the courts and in tribunals.
The Government’s position is that overall increases in judicial pay should be limited to the target that has been imposed thoughout the civil service that total pay should increase by no more than 1%.
But the MoJ concedes that there is some evidence that, especially for appointments to the High Court, the recruitment and retention of highly qualified and experienced judicial expertise is proving a bit tricky. The attraction of the knighthood/damehood that all high court judges receive on appointment and a good pension are – it is argued – no longer sufficient. The Ministry of Justice is therefore suggesting that the pay of High Court judges should be enhanced by 3% – to be funded by lower pay increases for other judicial ranks.
The Senior Salaries Review Board has not yet reached its determination for this year.
Looking ahead, the Ministry of Justice contemplates that – in light of all the changes currently taking place in the justice systems – there should be a more fundamental review of judicial pay, taking into account no doubt whether the current numbers of judicial appointments are appropriate.
I will note the outcome of the Board’s Review in due course.
The Ministry of Justice evidence is at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492029/senior-salaries-review-report-2016-2017.pdf with a short summary at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492028/ssrb-evidence-pack-covering-letter.pdf
Judicial Diversity statistics 2015
Getting membership of the judiciary more reflective of the population as a whole is a challenge that the Judicial Appointments Commission has been grappling with for many years. The latest statistics, published at the end of July 2015, suggest that some progress is being made – more with women than with those from the black and ethnic minority communities.
The headline figures from the latest statistical report show:
- Eight out of 38 Court of Appeal judges are women (21 per cent). In April 2014 the number was seven (18 per cent)
- The number of High Court judges who are women remains at 21 out of 106, (now 108), (19 per cent)
- The number of female Circuit Judges increased from 131 in April 2014 to 146 in April 2015 (going from 20 per cent to 23 per cent)
- More than half (53 per cent) of the 60 court judges under 40 years of age are women.
- In tribunals, 56 per cent of the 89 judges under 40 are women
- The overall percentage of female judges has increased in both the Courts and Tribunals from April 2014 to April 2015 from 24.5% to 25.2% in the Courts and 43.0% to 43.8% in the Tribunals
- The percentage of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) judges across Courts and Tribunals is unchanged at 7 per cent
- 12 per cent of judges across Courts and Tribunals under 50 years of age are from a BME background
- 36 per cent of Courts judges were not barristers by professional background (down from 37 per cent). In Tribunals the figure is 67 per cent (down less than one per cent).
For further information see https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/diversity/judicial-diversity-statistics-2015/
Martin Partington: Introduction to the English Legal System 15th ed 2021
Oxford University Press Learning Link Resources
Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System 