Higher courts have a long way to go, Supreme Court president says
Gender parity in the UK judiciary will be achieved by 2033, according to the president of the Supreme Court.
Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, revealed the latest estimate at the Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference 2019, the Law Society Gazette said. There’s a long way to go in the higher courts, while tribunals were more successful in judicial gender parity, she said.
Appearances made by women barristers before the Supreme Court are also increasing, although at a slow pace, growing from 21% to 23% in the last 10 years, the Gazette said.
Hale raised some concerns, however, with women barristers’ appearances before the Supreme Court.
“We have counted appearances rather than who was on their feet. My impression is that the proportion of women on their feet was even less; that many were juniors,” she said.
She also said that women barristers are not being instructed enough for work that would allow them to qualify as silk. Only 16% of practising QCs are women, the Gazette said.
