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Judges

01 March 1991

Recent parliamentary answers have thrown new light on the class and composition of the judiciary. Of 83 High Court judges 77.1% went to public schools, 96.4% went to university and 84.3% went to either Oxford or Cambridge. Of the same 83 judges, 39.8% were over the age of 60. There are very few women and black people in the judiciary. Of the 10 Lords of Appeal none are women; of the 27 Lords Justices of Appeal there is one woman; of the 83 High Court judges two are women; of the 425 circuit judges there are 19 women (4.5%); and of the 762 recorders 43 are women(5.6%). All the members at the top of the judiciary - Lord Chief Justice Master of the Rolls, president of the family division and Vice-Chancellor are men. There are no black members of the bar in the ranks of the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, heads of division Lords, Justices of Appeal or High Court judges. Of the 424 circuit judges only one is a black person and of the 762 recorders there are five black lawyers(0.65%). Hansard written answers Cols.767-768 20.7.90 & Cols.113-114, 5.12.90.