Judges must be more representative of the people they represent, Labour has said – hinting at the party's annual conference that a future Labour government could overhaul the judicial appointments process.

Discussing culture change through social mobility at a fringe event last night, shadow justice secretary and lord chancellor Steve Reed MP described the judiciary as ‘one of the last great unreformed bastions of privilege in the public sector’.

‘If we allow that to continue, it will eventually lead to a crisis of legitimacy because trust will break down… the criminal justice system is far too important for us to allow that to continue. The fact that 70% judges were privately educated - they are not proportionately diverse in the way the public is, and have very little lived experience of racism.

‘Without that lived experience I think it corrodes their ability to properly administer justice. There is an urgent, not just moral, need. To maintain a high level of trust in the system, you have to get more diversity into it, particularly at the top levels.’

He added: ‘It has been brought to my attention recently speaking to judges who have joined a trade union, the extent to which the judicial appointments system is secretive and still operates as an “old boys’ network” and people can be blackballed’.

The Gazette revealed earlier this year that GMB was setting up a specific branch for members who sit as judges. 

Meanwhile the Judicial Appointments Commission has announced that it will revise its approach to statutory consultation exercises, including dispensing with statutory consultation in certain circumstances. The decision followed a review ordered by the chair of the JAC last year in response to accusations that the commission had failed to do away with so-called ‘secret soundings’.

The Law Society wants the statutory consultation process to be abolished.

Last night's fringe event was organised by the Society of Labour Lawyers and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).

 

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