BENCH: Mrs Justice Dobbs tells BME lawyers to follow her lead


The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) should do more to recruit black and minority ethnic judges - including introducing affirmative action, a part-time judge and former chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers has said.



Peter Herbert's call came during the Minority Lawyers' conference held at the Law Society last weekend, where speakers included senior circuit judge and JAC commissioner Frances Kirkham, JAC tribunals appointments director David Truscott, and Mrs Justice Dobbs, the first ethnic minority woman on the High Court bench.



Mrs Justice Dobbs called for more black and minority ethnic (BME) lawyers to apply for the bench. 'It is up to the rest of you to come and join me,' she told delegates.



But Mr Herbert pointed to his own experience in seeking appointment as a judge. It took him almost ten years to get an interview and he 'ended up using the old boys' network I'd spent years criticising'.



He added: 'The Association of Chief Police Officers is looking at introducing affirmative action... because otherwise it would take 25 years before the police force reflected the population. I would like to see more from the JAC on this. If they can do it with senior police officers, why not with judges?'



Judge Kirkham told delegates that the JAC had a 'statutory obligation to select for appointment on merit... and to widen the pool from which applicants are drawn' but said there were 'no plans for affirmative action'. Mr Truscott said BME appointments had risen by 100% in four years.



Anita Rice