Latest judicial diversity statistics continue to paint a bleak picture for solicitors, with the percentage of non-barristers in post lower than it was in 2014.

Figures published by the government today show that the proportion of non-barrister court judges has fallen by one percentage point in 12 months – 31% at 1 April 2022 compared to 32% last year. In 2014, non-barristers represented 37% of court judges. (The report states that judges from non-barrister backgrounds are mostly solicitors.)

More solicitors than barristers applied for posts in 2021/22 (45% compared to 39%). However, they constituted a smaller percentage of recommendations (27% compared to 54%).

For court judges, more non-barristers left the judiciary between 2021/2022 than were in post. ‘The decreasing proportion of non-barristers in post among court and tribunal judges can be associated with the finding that a higher proportion of leavers, compared to new entrants, were non-barristers,’ the report says.

The number of non-barristers at High Court level and above remains unchanged, at 5%.

The statistics also paint a similar picture for racial diversity, with figures remaining the same as last year. Only 1% of judges are black, a figure that has not changed since 2014, while 5% of judges are Asian.

In better news, women represented 35% of court judges at 1 April 2022, compared to 34% last year and 24% in 2014.

The Law Society remains concerned about the significant disparity in outcomes between ethnic minority and white candidates, and for solicitor candidates compared with barristers.

Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said: 'We believe the Judicial Diversity Forum should now explore reasons for leaving the judiciary, in light of the worrying number of solicitors leaving the bench. This could have a knock-on effect on the overall diversity of our judiciary. 

'As a member of the JDF, we will seek to work alongside other organisations to further expand on its commitment on judicial diversity.'

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