Just 69 out of around 5,300 salaried and fee paid judges are black - and the number remains stubbornly low, a Supreme Court-hosted audience heard at the launch of the UK Association of Black Judges (UKABJ) yesterday evening.
Speaking for the Supreme Court, Lord Leggart noted the presence of seven of its justices signalled they were ‘deadly serious’ in their support for the association. Lady Chief Justice Carr also spoke in support.
The association founder and steering committee member Cordella Bart-Stewart OBE noted aims to ‘break barriers with dignity’. Data showing the under-representation of black judges, who form 1.3% of the judiciary, ‘holds up a mirror to our system and society’, signalling ‘exclusion from participation in power’. ‘The path to the bench has not been equally accessible to all,’ she added. Bart-Stewart previously founded the Black Solicitors Network.
Lady Justice Whipple, lead judge for diversity and inclusion, recalled a session at an Association of Women Judges conference which led to plans to set up the UKABJ. Black women judges had shared experiences of the obstacles they had faced which were ‘compelling… and raw’. ‘Whatever we do,’ she said, ‘we must get the backing of our black judges.’
Bar chair Barbara Mills KC, a deputy high court judge, spoke of the significance of black judges ‘show[ing] up in a system that doesn’t always feel like it shows up for us, [to] ask hard questions and be part of a respectful, solutions-driven conversation’.
Several speakers noted the UKABJ will work with the Judicial Diversity Committee of the Judges’ Council, the Judicial College, the Judicial Appointments Commission and the Judicial Diversity Forum to examine how both ‘criteria’ and ‘culture’ affect the outcome of appointments. Other activities for the association will include support to members.
Dame Linda Dobbs remains the only black judge to have been appointed above circuit level.
