Women in the judiciary & senior advocacy appointments

Dermot Feenan, lecturer in law at the University of Ulster and author of a report on applications by women for Silk and judicial office in Northern Ireland, commissioned by the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments for Northern Ireland, summarises the report’s findings, recommendations and related issues.

Traditionally, the legal profession and judiciary have been male dominated. The predominantly male composition of our judiciary and in senior advocacy appointments (Silk) may undermine the public’s confidence in the administration of justice and in the provision of legal services. Representation of women in such positions can also be seen as a measure of equality in our society.

Baroness Hale of Richmond, the first female Law Lord in the United Kingdom, emphasised in a lecture she gave for Law Centre (NI) and SLS Legal Publications NI in June 2005 that women may bring a different style of judging, and that the experience of living as a woman should be just as much part of the experiences reflected in judicial office as has traditionally been the case for men. Taken together, these factors have important implications for justice generally, and social welfare law in particular.

Research background

The Commissioner for Judicial Appointments for Northern Ireland was concerned about women’s representation in applications to judicial office and Silk. He commissioned this research to examine the reasons for, and what might be done to address, the situation. The research involved a survey of a sample of male and female lawyers. Interviews were conducted with a wide range of legal figures from the Lord Chief Justice to individual barristers and solicitors and members of the profession’s representative bodies and court service management.

Women’s representation

The research found that up to March 2005 women held 18% of judicial posts above tribunal level and made up 8% of Silk in Northern Ireland. There are still no female High Court, or Court of Appeal, judges. There were 166 women holders of judicial office in Northern Ireland, ranging from County Court judges to chairs of tribunals. There were no women judges in the High Court, nine women in the County Courts compared to 30 male judges; three female full time Resident Magistrates compared to fifteen males and five female deputy Resident Magistrates compared to thirteen males. Out of a total of 63 Queen’s Counsel in the province, only five were women.

The number of women holding high legal office in Northern Ireland is low compared to other countries. At September 2004, 8% of the total number of High Court judges in England and Wales were women.

Female representation in Northern Ireland compared to some other overseas jurisdictions is even worse. In Canada, 26% of the federal judiciary are women; with one-third of judges at provincial level. In Finland, 46% of judges are women. In France, which has career judges, more than 54% of the judiciary are women.

While there has been a notable increase recently in the number of applications by women for judicial office, many women do not apply, or may not do as well as men, for a range of reasons that are remediable.

Experiencing disadvantage

The research found a range of factors which women were more likely to cite than men for not applying for judicial office or Silk, including caring for children and uncertainty about the appointments criteria.

Many women also referred to limited opportunities in certain areas of practice, such as criminal defence work, their lack of self-confidence, and a lack of encouragement from their professional bodies.

Other factors which led many to not apply for judicial posts included inconvenience about times of sitting and inconvenience of travel.

Just over 40% of female barristers, solicitors and holders of judicial office interviewed perceived that informal networks or socialising could adversely affect women’s success in applications for judicial office and Silk. And just over half of female barristers, solicitors and holders of judicial office interviewed knew of women who had left private practice for reasons associated with their gender.

Most of the women interviewed referred to gender discrimination in briefing practices between solicitors and barristers and in passing-on briefs between barristers. This was seen as a barrier to women achieving judicial office or becoming QCs.
The majority of women reported that they had received no encouragement from their professional bodies, the Northern Ireland Court Service or the Lord Chief Justice’s office to apply for either Silk or judicial office, respectively.

Recommendations

The report made a number of recommendations, including:

• access to work without gender discrimination;
• encouragement to women to apply for Silk or judicial office;
• practical assistance such as work-shadowing of judges;
• improved information about appointments;
• opening up judicial office to legal academics and legal executives;
• testing the competency of applicants for judicial office across a range of skills and abilities using a variety of methods in addition to or instead of the traditional interview;
• introduction of assessment centres for applications to judicial office;
• further gender sensitivity training for holders of judicial office, assessment panels and middle management in the Court Service;
• extension of part-time judicial appointments and adjustments to working hours and work patterns;
• challenges to gender stereotyping and sexism;
• creation of a Working Party on Women in the Legal Profession.

The report recommended that any reform to the appointments process in Northern Ireland should incorporate best practice in the rest of the United Kingdom. Many similar recommendations have been, or will be, adopted in England and Wales.

Steps forward

The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission, which was launched in June 2005, will now conduct the appointment process and make recommendations in respect of all appointments up to and including High Court judge. It must aim to ensure that the judiciary is reflective of the community.

The broader context of gender discrimination must also be addressed, and a culture of respect for diversity actively encouraged and supported by, amongst others, the legal profession, particularly the Law Society of Northern Ireland and the Bar Council.

Gender discrimination can cut across singular legal categories. It is essential to address, therefore, complex experiences, such as those of women from minority ethnic groups.

A failure to adopt swift and effective changes in the appointments processes and in the legal profession will not only perpetuate systemic discrimination against women, but will likely continue to undermine confidence in the administration of justice.

*The report, Applications by Women for Silk and Judicial Office in Northern Ireland, is available from the office of the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments for Northern Ireland or in PDF format via the world wide web (http://cjani.courtsni.gov.uk/CJANIResearchReport.pdf). Dermot Feenan is continuing research in this area and may be contacted at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .