Applicants for judicial office are facing aggressive questioning about their attitudes to race, an approach which has in some cases caused offence, the Gazette has learned.

One white male barrister was asked if he was ‘racist’ as an opening question, while another was quizzed about why he lived in an area with so few people from ethnic minority groups. The questions were posed in separate judicial competitions, and the Gazette understands that other applicants have faced similar questions.

Both barristers, one of whom was successful in his application, are understood to have found the questioning unnecessary and offensive, although neither made an official complaint to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), which is responsible for the selection process.

A JAC spokesman said: ‘We have a statutory duty of confidentiality and do not comment publicly on individual ap­plications.’ However, he said interviews for judicial appointment were recorded so that any complaints could be investigated if a candidate felt they had not been treated fairly.

‘If a candidate complains to us, we investigate and respond to them directly. Anyone who is not satisfied may refer the complaint to Sir John Brigstocke, the independent Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman,’ he said.

The spokesman said the selection process had been externally ‘equality proofed’ to ensure it did not favour any group, and members of the interview panels were trained to interview objectively.

‘All candidates are judged against the same five qualities and abilities. One of these is "an ability to deal fairly", but race is not mentioned,’ he said.