Government response to Lammy review a ‘missed opportunity’

19 December 2017

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has expressed disappointment that no new action has been announced to improve the diversity of the judiciary in the Government’s response to the Lammy Review. 
 
David Lammy MP’s proposals recognised that a representative judiciary is an essential part of maintaining trust in the legal system, suggested talent-spotting of candidates for judicial appointment, and that a published target should be set for a more representative judiciary. 
 
CILEx President Millicent Grant FCILEx said: “The response from the Government today to tackle judicial diversity is to keep doing what is already being done. I think they could have gone further, and as such this has been a missed opportunity.
 
“At the same time that we have increased our efforts, through the establishment of the CILEx Judicial Development Programme, we have asked Government to take necessary steps to enable more Chartered Legal Executives – the most diverse branch of the legal profession – to enter the judiciary. This includes reforming the outdated eligibility criteria that overlooks Chartered Legal Executives for senior roles. We also hope that all stakeholders will be able to fully support the proposed Pre-Application Judicial Education programme.
 
“The Government have an opportunity to correct this though, with their upcoming response to the Constitution Select Committee’s report on judicial appointments. We will firmly support the Government in taking these concrete steps to ensuring that our judiciary is ultimately more representative of the society it serves.”