Diversity of the judiciary: Legal professions, new appointments and current post-holders - 2024 Statistics

Question 1

1. Main Points

Accepted Answer

1.1 Sex


The female population is generally well represented in the legal professions.	40% of barristers, 53% of solicitors, 77% of Chartered Legal Executives, and 43% of all judges were female.
There is no disparity between female and male candidates in their selection to judicial posts.	Female candidates represented 49% of the eligible pool and 53% of recommendations in legal judicial selection exercises.

1.2 Ethnicity


There has been a gradual increase in the representation of ethnic minorities in the legal professions and judiciary.	Since 2014, the ethnic minority proportion of barristers increased from 13% to 17%, of solicitors from 15% to 19%, of Chartered Legal Executives from 5% to 11%, and from 7% to 11% for all judges.
There is no evidence of disparity for ethnic minority candidates overall compared to white candidates in legal judicial selection exercises from eligible pool to recommendation. At a more granular level of ethnicity, this also applies to Asian and black candidates.	Across all legal exercises in 2023-24, ethnic minority candidates accounted for 15% of the eligible pool and 16% of recommendations. For Asian candidates the proportions were both 9%, and for black candidates the proportions were both 2%.

1.3 Professional background


There is evidence of disparity for solicitors in legal judicial selection exercises compared to barristers.	For all legal exercises in 2023-24, solicitors (52%) made up more applicants than barristers (29%) - but constituted a smaller percentage of the recommendations (32% compared to 40%).
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).

1.4 Judges sitting in retirement


In comparison to judges, a lower proportion of judges sitting in retirement are female or from an ethnic minority background, but a higher proportion have a non-barrister background.	Over a quarter (27%) of all judges sitting in retirement are female. Ethnic minorities made up about 5%. Non-barristers made up over half (55%) of judges sitting in retirement, compared to 40% for all current judges.

1.5 Non-legal Members of Tribunals


Compared with judges, a higher proportion of non-legal members are female, or from an ethnic minority background.	Of all non-legal tribunal members, over a half (56%) were female and those with an ethnic minority background constituted 18%, compared to 43% and 11% for all judges respectively.

1.6 Magistrates


The proportions of female and ethnic minority individuals were higher amongst the magistracy than in the judiciary.	Over half (57%) of all magistrates were female. Ethnic minorities made up 13%.
The proportions of female individuals and ethnic minority individuals appointed to the magistracy are comparable to those already in post.	Over 2,000 appointments were made to become a magistrate in 2023-24. Of those, 58% were female, and 16% were of an ethnic minority background.

Question 2

2. Statistician’s Comment

Accepted Answer

The female population is generally well represented throughout the judicial career path, from the legal professions who make up the eligible pool of future candidates, through the judicial appointments process, to the current judges in post. The main exception to this is seen in the more senior roles of the court judiciary where female judges tend to be less prevalent.

Ethnic minority representation amongst the legal professions is in line with the general population of working age (25-74). Representation within the judiciary is lower compared to the general working age population but is comparable to older ages of this working population (50-74). There is no evidence of disparity in the judicial appointments process from eligible pool to recommendation between the combined group of ethnic minorities and white candidates in legal exercises in the latest year. This also applies to the specific Asian/Asian British or black/black British ethnic minority groups compared to white candidates, but mixed ethnicity candidates are more likely to be appointed when compared to white candidates.

Over a three-year period there is still no disparity between ethnic minority candidates overall compared to white candidates, and mixed ethnicity candidates are still more likely to be appointed when compared to white candidates. However, black/black British and those of other ethnic minority groups are less likely to be appointed compared to white candidates.

Female representation and ethnic minority representation was higher in those posts which do not require a legal background (magistrates and non-legal tribunal members), compared to judges currently in post. In addition there were over 2,000 appointments to become a magistrate in the year and the proportion of those from an ethnic background was slightly higher than that for the current magistracy.

Question 3

3. Things you need to know

Accepted Answer

This is the fifth report bringing together diversity data on the legal professions, judicial appointments, sitting judges and other post holders.

The accompanying User Guide contains extensive information about these statistics - on their background, sources and coverage. It also includes detailed description and explanation of terms used in the analysis of the data from the judicial selection exercises - such as ‘recommendation rate’, ‘relative rate index (RRI)’, ‘practical significance’, ‘statistical significance’ and ‘eligible pool’. We therefore strongly suggest the user guide is read alongside this report, particularly anyone who is new to these statistics.

In addition to the User Guide, downloadable tables have been published alongside this bulletin which contain more detailed information, and these are referenced as ‘Tables’ throughout this report.

For this edition covering 2023/24, data providers shared information on ethnicity at a more granular level for the first time, using the full 19 categories from the 2021 Census of England and Wales, for example providing numbers on those identifying as black African or black Caribbean within the broader black ethnicity group. Where appropriate, figures have been included within the commentary to highlight any specific findings.

In order to most appropriately assess the figures and trends in judicial diversity, comparisons in this publication are made against the relevant population in England and Wales, from which the legal professions and the majority of judges are derived. Previous reports used the general population aged 25-74 from the 2021 Census. Given the older profile of those applying to become a judge and particularly those already a judge, this report also makes comparison to the 50-74 age-group from the 2021 Census. We also make comparisons to the Annual Population Survey’s (APS) economically active population, in order to recognise that not all members of particular demographic groups within these age ranges are employed or actively looking for work.

Question 4

4. Overview of the legal professions, selection exercises and judiciary

Accepted Answer

4.1 Legal professions

The legal professions form the pool from which the candidates who wish to become judges apply. Table 1.1 provides information about the sex, ethnicity and age of these professionals by experience and seniority. As at 1 April 2024, there were 17,674 barristers, 168,478 solicitors (now including those who are exempt from holding a practising certificate by virtue of section 88 of the Solicitors Act 1974) and 8,216 Chartered Legal Executives^{[footnote 1]}.

The varying size of the professions should be kept in mind when interpreting the figures presented throughout this publication relating to the percentage of those in different professions with various characteristics (typically there will be more solicitors than barristers or Chartered Legal Executives).

4.2 Judicial Appointments: Applications and Selections

During 2023-24 the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) completed 36^{[footnote 2]} judicial selection exercises (excluding senior judicial appointments), 26 for legal posts and 10 non-legal tribunal exercises. There were a total of 6,963 applications, resulting in 828 recommendations for immediate appointment (s87)^{[footnote 3]}. Table 2.1 contains a full list of the exercises completed by the JAC between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and a detailed breakdown of the number of applications and appointments for each type of exercise.

Where two or more applicants are assessed as being of equal merit, the JAC can select an applicant for the purpose of increasing judicial diversity using the Equal Merit Provision (EMP) introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013^{[footnote 4]}. EMP can be applied at both the shortlisting and recommendation for appointment stages. For exercises reporting in the 2023/24 period, as a result of using EMP, 94 candidates were advanced to the next stage of the process at the shortlisting stage, and 16 candidates were recommended at the selection day stage^{[footnote 5]}.

Levels of experience among applicants

Judicial selection exercises have a minimum statutory level of post qualification experience (PQE). However, the actual levels of applicants’ PQE are often greater than these minimum requirements. For 2023/24, of all applicants for court and tribunal positions requiring at least 5 years’ post-qualification experience, applicants had around 17-19.5 years’ experience on average^{[footnote 6]}. Of those who applied for positions requiring at least 7 years’ experience, applicants had around 22 years’ experience on average. More specifically:

Court positions requiring 5 years’ PQE: the average PQE of applicants was around 16.5-19 years
Court positions requiring 7 years’ PQE: the average PQE of applicants was 25 years
Tribunal positions requiring 5 years’ PQE: the average PQE of applicants was around 18-20 years
Tribunal positions requiring 7 years’ PQE: the average PQE of applicants was 20 years

Therefore, where information on the eligible pool for the legal professions are presented in the following chapters, these actual averages are used to allow a more meaningful comparison.

Comparison with previous years

This publication presents data for selection exercises which concluded during 2023-24 and does not draw overall comparisons with previous years. Historical comparisons can be affected by the number and type of exercises run in any given year, which can vary according to recruitment needs, and by when exercises are formally closed (before or after the report’s cut-off date of 1 April each year). However, in certain exercises where data is consistently available across the years summary statistics on recommendations for appointment have been presented in Table 2.5.

4.3 Judicial office holders

Table 3.1 shows that as at 1 April 2024, by primary appointment, there were 3,667 court judges and 1,631 tribunal judges, with an additional 3,115 non-legal members of tribunals.

Court and tribunal judge numbers fluctuate over time and there is little pattern in changes from one year to the next. Compared to 2012 (the earliest year with data available on both courts and tribunals), the number of court judges (3,575 in 2012) has increased slightly while the number of tribunal judges (2,060 in 2012) has decreased.

Turnover in the judiciary tends to be relatively low, with 207 judges beginning their first appointment in 2023-24 (95% court and 5% tribunal judges) and 243 leaving in the same period (59% court and 41% tribunal judges).

As at 1 April 2024 there were 270 judges sitting in retirement in England and Wales.

4.4 Magistrates

There were 14,576 magistrates in post across England and Wales as at 1 April 2024, up 9% compared to the previous year, and the second consecutive annual increase.

Of the 5,131 applications to join the magistracy which concluded in 2023-24, 2,008 were for appointments, as recorded on the new magistrates recruitment process introduced in January 2022.

Question 5

5. Sex

Accepted Answer

5.1 Legal Professions

Overall the female population is generally well represented in the legal professions, with each of the professions showing a gradual increase over the past decade.

For all three professions, female professionals are less likely to be at a higher seniority level than their male colleagues.

Although the female population is generally well represented in the legal professions as a whole, as at 1 April 2024 the female proportion varied between the legal professions- from 40% of barristers, 53% of solicitors, to 77% of Chartered Legal Executives.

Table 1.2 shows that the female proportion in all three legal profession groups has gradually increased since 2014, with barristers and solicitors increasing five percentage points each, and Chartered Legal Executives increasing four percentage points.

Post Qualification Experience and seniority

Table 1.1 shows that male practitioners dominate senior positions across the legal professions despite gains in female representation over the past decade^{[footnote 7]}.

Over a half (52%) of male barristers have 20+ years’ experience compared to a over a third (36%) of their female colleagues; and also, they are nearly three times more likely to be at a higher (King’s Counsel) seniority level (16% compared to 6% respectively).
Over a quarter (26%) of male Chartered Legal Executives have 20+ years’ experience compared to a fifth (20%) of their female colleagues, and they are also slightly more likely to be partners (18% compared to 12% respectively).
Although the declaration rate for the lowest PQE band (0-4) for solicitors is too low for analysis across the whole range of PQE bands^{[footnote 8]}, for the remaining bands the proportion of female practitioners falls as PQE increases; almost two thirds (65%) of those with 5-6 years PQE are female, and 42% of those with 20+ years. And whilst 59% of solicitors are female, it is only 35% for partners.

Figure 1: Proportion of female legal professionals by PQE band, April 2024^{[footnote 9]} Across all legal professions, the proportion of female professionals is notably lower for those having 20+ years’ experience.

Figure 2: Proportion of female legal professionals by seniority, April 2024 For all three professions, the female proportion is lower at more senior compared to less senior levels.

5.2 Judicial Appointments: Applications and Selections

Overall, there is no evidence of a disparity in legal judicial selection in 2023-24 for female candidates relative to male candidates when comparing recommendation rates from the eligible pool.

Overall View

Table 2.2 shows that across all legal JAC exercises in 2023-24, female candidates^{[footnote 10]} accounted for 52% of the applications (3,409), 53% of those shortlisted (798) and 53% of the recommendations for appointment (367)^{[footnote 11]}.

These percentages suggest there was no disparity between male and female candidates in these exercises. This is borne out by the estimated^{[footnote 12]} RRI for the eligible pool to recommendation of 1.20, which shows that overall the likelihood of success is about 20% higher for female candidates from the eligible pool compared to male candidates. This difference is statistically significant but not practically significant^{[footnote 13]}. Similarly there was no evidence of a disparity between male and female applicants in these exercises from application to recommendation (RRI of 1.05).^{[footnote 14]}

This lack of difference between male and female candidates is also shown by their similar progressions rates in Figure 3.

Figure 3: The proportion of each sex progressing through the exercise stages (all legal exercises completed in 2023-24).

Exercise-specific Analysis

In 2023-24, five of the six legal exercises where an RRI could be calculated showed a statistically and practically significant sex disparity (Figure 4).

In four exercises - District Judge, Deputy District Judge, Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, and Fee-paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal and Fee-paid Judge of the Employment Tribunals - the respective RRIs from eligible pool to recommendation indicate that the odds of success for female candidates were higher than for their male counterparts^{[footnote 15]}. For the Circuit Judge exercise, the equivalent RRI (0.59) indicates that the odds of success was higher for male candidates.

However, Table 2.2 shows that for four of the five exercises mentioned above the RRI values for application to recommendation were not statistically significant^{[footnote 16]}, meaning that that there is no evidence of disparity in success rate between male and female candidates when looking at applicants rather than the eligible pool. The only exercise to have a statistically and practically significant difference for application to recommendation was Deputy District Judge with an RRI of 1.64, indicating that the odds of success was higher for female candidates.

Figure 4: RRI for female compared to male candidates, from eligible pool to recommendation (all legal exercises completed in 2023-24).

For Figure 4 above, note that statistically significant results – where the confidence interval (represented by the arms extending from each dot) does not overlap the parity line (1 on the x-axis) - are light blue. The tolerance zone is shaded grey (0.8 to 1.25); results falling within this zone are considered to represent a disparity which is not large enough to be considered practically important (and tend not to be statistically significant).

Representation percentages (Figure 5) help to show the progress of female candidates at different stages of the selection process. In comparison to the eligible pool, female representation was higher at the recommendation for appointment stage for six of the eleven large legal exercises.

Figure 5: The female proportion of the candidate pool at different stages of the appointments process, split by eligible pool type (5 years’ PQE, 7 years’ PQE, and Previous Judicial Experience (PJE)) and exercise, for large legal exercises completed in 2023-24.

5.3 Judicial Office Holders

Female representation among judges in post has increased over recent years, for both courts and tribunals judges.

Judges in post

Table 3.4 shows that as at 1 April 2024, female representation among all court judges (38%) was 14 percentage points higher than in 2014^{[footnote 17]}, and that for all tribunal judges (at 53%) it was 10 percentage points higher than in 2014 (Figure 6).

Comparing the male and female distributions across judicial positions in courts, Table 3.1 shows that for the latest year, the distribution of female court judges across the roles above recorder was roughly equivalent to that for male judges (apart from Deputy High Court Judge) – even though there are comparatively fewer at higher levels as a proportion of each role. Male judges are more likely to be recorders than female judges, who are more likely to be a County Courts District Judge or Deputy District Judge.

Overall, the distribution of female tribunal judges across roles is generally similar to that for their male counterparts.

Figure 6: Proportion of female court and tribunal judges as at 1 April, from 2014.

For context, just over half of the general population aged 25-74 and just under half of the economically active population of England and Wales are female^{[footnote 18]}. As judicial roles require substantial legal experience, a direct comparison with the general population does not provide as much insight on the progression of female representation in the judiciary as considering the makeup of the legal professions (as presented at the beginning of this chapter).

Entrants, promotions and leavers

There were the same number of female as male entrants to the judiciary during 2023-24, but of those leaving the judiciary during the same period over two-thirds (69%) were male (Table 3.1).

New entrants: Table 3.1 shows that the proportion of female judges in post (5%) who were new entrants to the judiciary – those not previously holding a judicial appointment – was slightly higher than that for male judges (3%) during 2023-24^{[footnote 19]}.

Promotions: The proportion of female judges in post who were promoted in 2023/24 was the same as that for male judges (3%) - although the actual numbers are fairly small and can be affected year-on-year by the mix of roles involved.

Leavers: The proportion of female judges in post who had left the judiciary during 2023/24 (3%) was slightly less than that for male judges (5%).

Figure 7: Representation of female court and tribunal judges leaving and joining the judiciary, 1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024.

Patterns by type of appointment

Female representation across the judiciary varies by appointment type and seniority (Figure 8).

Table 3.1 shows that as at 1 April 2024, in the courts, female judges held 30% of the more senior posts (High Court and above). The highest level of female representation was among the Deputy District Judges (County Court) at 48%.

In tribunals, female judges accounted for nearly two-thirds (62%) of the most senior roles (Presidents)^{[footnote 20]}.

Figure 8: Female representation of court and tribunal judges by appointment, 1 April 2024.

Patterns by region

The proportion of female judges across the court judiciary also varies considerably by region, from 30% in Wales, to 42% in the Midlands (with England and Wales at 38%). Variations may reflect the nature of the appointments in the different regions, as well as the underlying regional make-up of both the general population and the eligible pool. Further information is available in Table 3.2.

Question 6

6. Ethnicity

Accepted Answer

6.1 Legal Professions

There has been a gradual increase in the representation of ethnic minorities in all three legal professions over the last decade.

Representation of individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds is lower at the more senior levels for each of the legal professions.

Overall Picture in Each Profession

Since 2014 there has been a gradual increase in the representation of ethnic minorities amongst the three legal professions. For barristers the ethnic minority proportion increased three percentage points to 17%, for solicitors it rose four percentage points to 19%, and for Chartered Legal Executives it doubled from 5% to 11%.

At 1st April 2024, for all three professions the proportion of individuals self-identifying as ethnic minority was broadly in line with those of the 25-74 working population in England and Wales from the 2021 Census, and slightly higher than the older 50-74 working population.^{[footnote 21]}

At a lower ethnicity level, the main variation was in the representation of Asian or Asian British ethnicity among solicitors (12%) being higher than the 25-74 working population (9%) and older 50-74 working population (6%). Representation of black or black British individuals was similar for all three professions (3% to 4%), and was comparable to the 25-74 (4%) and 50-74 (3%) working age populations.

At an even lower granular level, of the Asian or Asian British sub-groups, the representation of Bangladeshi individuals was the same for each of the three professions, but for all other sub-groups (Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, and Other) representation was higher for solicitors compared to barristers and Chartered Legal Executives. The proportion of black Caribbean was higher than black African amongst Chartered Legal Executives, but the other way round for barristers and solicitors.

Post Qualification Experience and seniority

In practice, most applicants for judicial roles have more than the minimum experience. For court and tribunal posts requiring at least 5 years’ experience, applicants have on average around 17 to 19.5 years’ experience, and for court and tribunal posts requiring 7 or more years of experience, applicants have on average around 22 years’ experience^{[footnote 22]}. Table 1.1 shows that:

Amongst barristers, 50% of those with an ethnic minority background have 15 or more years’ PQE, with 39% having 20 or more years’ PQE, compared to 57% and 46% respectively for white barristers.
Amongst Chartered Legal Executives, 17% of those from an ethnic minority background have 15 or more years’ PQE, with 8% having 20 or more years’ PQE, compared to 39% and 23% respectively for white Chartered Legal Executives.
Although the declaration rates for the lowest PQE bands (0-9) for solicitors are too low for analysis across the whole range of PQE bands^{[footnote 7]}, for the remaining bands the proportion of ethnic minority solicitors falls as PQE increases: 25% of solicitors with 10-14 years PQE are from an ethnic minority compared to 12% with 20+ years. Regarding seniority, 20% of solicitors and 17% of partners are from an ethnic minority background.

Figure 9: The proportion of each PQE band by ethnic minority group and legal profession group, April 2024^{[footnote 23]}

Figure 10: The ethnic minority proportion of each PQE band by legal profession group, April 2024^{[footnote 22]}

Seniority^{[footnote 24]}

Table 1.1 shows that ethnic minority barristers are slightly less likely to be at a higher level (King’s Counsel) than white barristers (8% compared to 13%). This is also the case for ethnic minority solicitors compared to white solicitors (23% compared to 26%), and for ethnic minority Chartered Legal Executives compared to their white colleagues (10% compared to 14%).

At a more granular level, Asian or Asian British individuals are less represented in more senior roles compared to junior roles in all three legal professions. This is also the case in two of the three professions for black or black British individuals and those with mixed ethnicity (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Proportion of senior and junior levels by ethnic minority group and legal profession, April 2024

6.2 Judicial Appointments: Applications and Selections

Single-year Analysis: 2023/2024

Ethnic minority candidates were recommended for legal exercises in line with their representation in the eligible pool, suggesting no disparity in judicial appointments relative to white candidates when comparing recommendation rates from the eligible pool.

However, ethnic minority candidates made up a much higher percentage of applications than their representation in the eligible pool, and their representation decreased between each exercise stage, from application to shortlisting to recommendation for appointment.

For selection exercises that closed in the 2023-24 financial year, candidate numbers at the application, shortlisting and recommendation for appointment stages were not high enough to produce and publish statistics for a more granular ethnic minority group breakdown at the exercise level as the numbers would be too low to draw robust inferences and there would be a risk of disclosing sensitive information. Therefore, for individual exercises in this most recent year of data, we consider candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds together as one group and compare their progression outcomes to white candidates.

Later in this section we have grouped together exercises from 2021 to 2024 to generate a sufficient sample of candidates from which we can look at ethnic minority backgrounds on a more granular level in exercises for particular roles.