Lady Hale calls for judicial diversity to address perception bench is ‘from another planet’

Lady Hale

Lady Hale said that there should be a more balanced female to male and white to non-white ratio in the Supreme Court in an interview marking 100 years since barriers preventing women from entering the profession were removed.

She also said the compulsory retirement age of 70 was a “waste of talent”, though she herself is permitted to remain on the court until she turns 75.

At present, there are three female justices out of 12.

She said: “My own view is up to a quarter is an important breakthrough but that there’s no right number of justices of either gender. An ideal balance would be at least 60/40 either way. And so we still have a little way to go towards that.”

The most important reason for a more balanced judiciary, she said, was was that “the public should be able to look at the judges and say ‘they are our judges’” rather than seeing them as “some sort of beings from another planet”.

The judge also pointed to sexual harassment problems at the English bar.

“I do recall that when I was being elected to the northern circuit they required young women being elected to get on the table [as an initiation rite],” she said.

“They didn’t require me to get on the table. [I don’t know] whether they thought I could not get up or whether [it was because] I was married to a member of the circuit.”

Regarding ethnic minority membership of the judiciary, she said: “It’s not surprising that it’s slower. It’s [only] more recently that members of ethnic minorities have joined the legal profession in larger numbers. Although there’s definitely a way to go [the discrepancy] may not be as bad as we thought.”

Lady Hale noted, however, that she does not approve of positive discrimination as “no one wants to feel they have got the job in any way other than on their own merits”.