Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): Following my written statement of 13 July this year, I am now announcing further progress on my programme of work to increase the diversity of the judiciary, and my plans for the coming months.
Achieving a more diverse judiciary is one of my key priorities. Public confidence in the justice system requires that our judges continue to be of the highest quality, appointed solely on merit following a rigorous selection process. To be confident we continue to appoint the best, we need to draw on the widest possible pool of those with the right skills and qualities. This means reaching out to a wider range of potential candidates. A judiciary which comprises a range of experiences and perspectives will continue to be in touch with the communities it serves.
Since July, my Department has made substantial progress in our work to encourage a wider range of people to apply for judicial appointment by improving the information offered to potential candidates. In particular:
There is still much to do. There is an untapped pool of potential judicial talent, particularly among solicitors, and my Department, in partnership with the Law Society, is looking at how that might be harnessed. There is little point, however, in encouraging people to apply for appointment if judicial life itself is difficult to fit in with domestic commitments. I have already taken action to address this issue: many salaried judges are now able to work part-time, and I recently approved the appointment of the first-ever job-share arrangement for a salaried post. I expect much of our work in the coming months to focus on making the judicial role better suited to a more diverse judiciary.
I am therefore introducing a career break scheme for the judiciary, to assist judges in accommodating personal responsibilities, commitments or outside interests. Further details, including the commencement date, will be announced shortly, but I expect the scheme to be up and running early in the new year.
I believe that permitting judges to return to legal practice after they cease to hold judicial office would have a significant impact on diversity by encouraging a more diverse range of people to consider applying for judicial appointment. Changing current policy to permit return to practice would encourage lawyers to consider judicial office earlier in their careers. I am minded to go ahead with this change for judges below High Court level, but before making a final decision I will ask the Judges' Council for their views on the matter. I shall also need to consider what conditions and safeguards should apply where judges do return to practice, and whether it would also be appropriate to permit those who have served at the level of High Court Judge and above to return to practice. I expect to consult stakeholders on these issues in the near future.
My Department is also taking forward work to reduce or remove altogether barriers faced by disabled judges and potential candidates. Finally, because I believe it is important for judges to be able to progress over time to more senior judicial posts, I am launching a pilot scheme in the North East whereby Circuit Judges will act as mentors to District Judges who wish to consider applying for a more senior post. Mentors will be identified and trained over the coming months.
This package of improvements will complement the steps already taken in recent months to increase the diversity of the judiciary, and will provide the new Judicial Appointments Commission with a solid base on which to build when it starts work next April.