A substantial majority of senior judges are white men despite the proportion of women judges continuing to increase, but there is still “much more work to be done” when it comes to ethnic minority representation.

These are some of the key findings of the Judicial Diversity Forum’s (JDF’s) 2024 report, which covers data for England and Wales, and found that women make up 38% of all court judges, 14% higher than in 2014. More than half (53%) of tribunal judges are now women.

However, white men account for 74% of Court of Appeal judges, 64% of High Court judges or equivalent and 60% of circuit judges, recorders and judge advocates.

Furthermore, while the proportion of Asian and mixed-ethnicity judges has increased slowly, representation of the two other groups measured – black and other ethnic minority – has stayed the same.

“The report once again shows an increase in the proportion of women within the judiciary,” said the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, Baroness Carr.

“Collectively the profile of black, Asian and minority ethnic judicial office holders has marginally increased, however the increase is not enough to change the profile of individual groups within this overall group.”

According to the report women are generally well-represented in the England and Wales legal professions, making up 40% of barristers, 53% of solicitors, 77% of chartered legal executives and 43% of all judges.

It found no disparity between female and male candidates in judicial selection, with female candidates representing 49% of the eligible pool and 53% of recommendations in selection exercises.

The position was even more mixed on ethnic minority representation within the judiciary, where one in 20 judges is from an ethnic minority. 

The JDF said the report “shows some encouraging figures on the representation of Asian and mixed ethnicity individuals, but there is still much more work to be done”.

It noted an increase in the proportion of ethnic minority judges from 7% to 11% over the past 10 years compared unfavourably with the increase in representation within the profession: during the same period the proportion of barristers from ethnic minorities increased from 13% to 17%, solicitors from 15% to 19%, and of chartered legal executives from 5% to 11%.

Furthermore, within the judiciary, while there had been a slow increase in the proportion of Asian and mixed-ethnicity individuals, the proportion of black and other ethnic minority individuals had stayed the same.

During her annual press conference in February, Carr acknowledged the disparities, saying: “We are doing much better with women, certainly up to the higher levels, and we are making progress with certain ethnic minorities.” 

She has identified appointing more black judges as a priority for recruitment. 

The Bar Council’s chair, Sam Townend KC, said evidence that ethnic minority candidates were more likely to apply but less likely to be recommended for appointment warranted further investigation by the Judicial Appointments Commission. He added that career progression within the Bar of underrepresented groups was a priority for the Bar Council, highlighting several initiatives, including a progress report on race, pre-application judicial education and judicial applications mentoring programmes. 

One group that remains significantly underrepresented in the judiciary are solicitors, who accounted for 52% of the applications for judicial posts but just 32% of recommendations. Barristers, on the other hand, accounted for 40% of the recommendations, against 32% of the applications. Just seven High Court judges out of 149 were solicitors. 

There were 1,062 solicitor judges in the courts on 1 April 2024, out of 3,667, comparable to 1,068 and 1,055 for the previous two years. Non-barristers accounted for 31% of court judges in April 2024, down from 37% in 2014, most being solicitors, while tribunal members were twice as likely to be non-barristers than the alternative.

Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson agreed, saying the figures showed “much work to do before the judiciary truly reflects society at large”.

He added: “The number of non-barristers who hold the recorder position stands at 8% and has barely risen over the last 11 years. Until this percentage significantly increases, the lack of solicitors holding senior judicial posts will continue.”