Lord Falconer has presented the Bar with a critical challenge. In justifying the need for an independent judicial appointments commission, the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs makes much of the need for a “fresh approach” to judicial appointments.
He points out that the “current judiciary is overwhelmingly white, male and from a narrow social background” and demands a system that “is seen as affording equal opportunities to all suitably qualified applicants”. What he does not say – but what his predecessor, Lord Irvine, stressed – is that under the current appointments system the make-up of the senior judiciary is only as diverse as the make-up of its recruiting ground, namely the senior Bar.
