In an interview with the London Evening Standard, Lord Sumption, a Supreme Court judge, is quoted as saying that he considers the judiciary to be a ‘terrific public asset’ that could be ‘destroyed very easily’ were the selection of candidates to be skewed in favour of women. He emphasises the need for gender equality campaigners to be ‘patient’, but also his support for gender equality and his desire to see the ‘hidden barriers to the progress of women’ removed.

Twitter reactions

A number of legal heavyweights have taken to Twitter to voice their disagreement with Lord Sumption. Dinah Rose, QC said that he ‘knows nothing about the lives of women at the Bar’, while former Court of Appeal judge Sir Henry Brooke commented: ‘I used to teach judges that if they said silly things people would say that "they all think like that". They don't.’

Supreme Court statement

In response, the Supreme Court has released a statement saying that Lord Sumption’s comments ‘appear to have been misunderstood’, that he ‘believes that increasing diversity at all levels of the profession is important’, and that ‘the concern he expressed was against introducing any form of positive discrimination to the judicial appointments system without careful analysis’. Sources: the London Evening Standard; Legal Cheek; The Supreme Court