Judges (2)
01 January 1991
Judges
artdoc May=1991
Statewatch no.1 March/April 1991
Recent parliamentary answers have thrown new light on the class and composition
of the judiciary. Of 83 High Court judges 77.1% went to public schools, 96.4%
went to university, and 84.3% went to either Oxford or Cambridge. Of the same
83 judges 39.8% were over the age of 60.
There are very few women and black people in the judiciary. Of the 10 Lords
of Appeal none are women; of the 27 Lords Justices of Appeal there is one woman;
of the 83 High Court judges two are women; of the 425 circuit judges there are
19 women (4.5%); and of the 762 recorders 43 are women(5.6%). All the members
at the top of the judiciary - Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, president
of the family division and Vice-Chancellor are men. There are no black members
of the bar in the ranks of the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, heads of division,
Lords Justices of Appeal, or High Court judges. Of the 424 circuit judges only
one is a black person, and of the 762 recorders there are five black
lawyers(0.65%).
Hansard written answers, Cols.767-768, 20.7.90 & Cols.113-114, 5.12.90.