'Unrepresentative' judges problem for Human Rights Act

The unrepresentative nature of the judiciary could undermine the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act (HRA), the Institute of Employment Rights warned last week.Research commissioned by the institute for a new book, Human Rights at Work, showed that of 704 judges surveyed, 93% were male, less than 1% were of ethnic origin, half were over 60, and 69% had attended public school.Human rights expert Steven Grosz, a partner at London firm Bindman & Partners, said: 'To the extent that the HRA brings judges closer to the assessment of policy, the problem of broadening the base of experience under the judiciary is certainly more pressing.'A Law Society spokeswoman said the Society 'continued to call on the Lord Chancellor to establish a fully independent judicial appointments commission, and put an end to informal consultations' when appointing judges to make the bench more representative.Victoria MacCallum