The government should set diversity targets for judicial appointments unless in five years’ time there is a ‘significant increase’ in the numbers of women and black and Asian minority ethnic lawyers sitting on the bench, the House of Lords constitution committee urges today.

The report says that solicitors are ‘a more representative group of society than barristers’ and should not face barriers to a judicial career. It calls for selection panels to include lay persons and be gender and ethnically diverse.

As expected, the 78-page report on judicial appointments dismisses the idea of submitting appointees to US-style parliamentary hearings, which it said might politicise the judiciary. It urges more commitment to flexible working and career breaks within the judiciary, but says merit should remain the ‘sole criterion’ for appointment. However, where candidates are of equal merit a ‘tipping provision’ should allow applicants from an under-represented gender or ethnicity to be successful.

The report says there should be ‘no fundamental changes’ to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), which will continue to be primarily responsible for appointments and remain independent of the Lord Chancellor, who is to have ‘no power to determine its membership’ or direct how it should act.

Recommended reforms include: more emphasis on career opportunities within the judiciary, making it easier to move between different courts and tribunals to seek promotion; introducing a formal appraisal system for the judiciary; and increasing the size of the UK Supreme Court selection commission, with greater lay representation.

Constitution committee chair Baroness Jay said: ‘It is vital that the public have confidence in our judiciary. One aspect of ensuring that confidence is a more diverse judiciary that more fully reflects the wider population. That even by 2011 only 5% of judges were from minority groups and only 22% were women suggest there is still work to be done in this area.

‘It is also important that solicitors, who are a more representative group of society than barristers, do not face any impediments to a career in the judiciary.’

The committee published its report into judicial appointments yesterday after hearing evidence from the JAC, judges, politicians and representatives of groups representing women and minority ethnic solicitors and barristers.