The government has released the latest official statistics related to the diversity of the judiciary, prompting the president of the Law Society of England and Wales to call for ‘significant progress to level the playing field’.
The data, which covers legal professions, new appointments and current post-holders for the last 12 months, shows an overall improvement in female representation across the judicial career path, but the representation of Black legal professionals has remained what Law Society president Richard Atkinson referred to as ‘stubbornly stagnant’ for over a decade.
Minority ethnic candidates are disproportionately ruled out at every stage of the appointments process, Atkinson said, as he called for further improvements to ensure the judiciary better reflects the diversity of society.
“The representation of Black legal professionals on the bench has remained stubbornly stagnant for over a decade, showing that efforts to make improvements are not having the desired impact. More work needs to be done.
“Minority ethnic candidates are disproportionately ruled out at every stage of the appointments process. While there have been some positive changes relating to Asian and mixed-ethnicity candidates, no progress at all is being made in relation to Black candidates.”
The official statistics show a gradual increase in the representation of ethnic minorities in the legal professions and judiciary, with the proportion of barristers increasing from 14% to 17%, solicitors from 15% to 19% and chartered legal executives from 5% to 12%. However, representation of individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds is lower at the senior level for each of the legal professions. The number of Black judges has remained the same, representing 1% of the total.
The female population is generally well represented in the legal professions and judiciary: 41% of barristers, 54% of solicitors, 78% of chartered legal executives and 44% of all judges were female, figures which continue to trend upwards. However, female barristers and solicitors are less likely to be at a senior level than their male colleagues and female judges remain under-represented in more senior court roles.
Male barristers are almost three times more likely to be a King’s Counsel than women (16% and 6% respectively).
In terms of professional background, there is evidence of disparity for solicitors in legal judicial selection exercises compared to barristers. For all legal exercises in 2024-25, solicitors (45%) made up more applicants than barristers (37%) – but constituted a smaller percentage of the recommendations (24% compared to 48%).
Tribunal judges are twice as likely to have a non-barrister background than court judges. Overall, 31% of court judges and 62% of tribunal judges were from non-barrister backgrounds (mostly solicitors).
Of the judges sitting in retirement, a lower proportion are female or from an ethnic minority background compared to judges, but a higher proportion have a non-barrister background. Nearly a third (31%) of all judges sitting in retirement are female. Ethnic minorities made up about 7%. Non-barristers made up over half (54%) of judges sitting in retirement, compared to 40% for all current judges.
A higher proportion of non-legal members of tribunals are female or from an ethnic minority background compared to judges. Over half (58%) were female and 18% were from an ethnic minority background, compared to 44% and 12% of judges respectively. The same was true for the magistracy, with 57% female and 14% from an ethnic minority background.
‘Today’s figures highlight that although some improvements have been made in some areas, significant progress is still required before the judiciary can truly represent the wider society’, Atkinson said.
“There is moderate improvement in the proportion of female judges; however, the representation of solicitors, of female judges and of judges from minority ethnic backgrounds remain concentrated at the lower end of the courts.
“Solicitors are continuing to achieve appointments as judges at disproportionately low rates compared with barristers and the numbers are falling. Our concerns remain that until this percentage significantly increases, we will struggle to persuade our members that entry to the judiciary is a level playing field.”
