Merit or Quotas?
'Too white, too male' - Scotsman.com News
THE body in charge of selecting judges and sheriffs, the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, is to carry out a major investigation aimed at ending the virtual monopoly that white men have on the bench.
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Equality campaigners fear the lack of women and non-white sheriffs and judges is damaging public confidence in the legal system. They argue that the predominance of white men in the judiciary is off-putting to some victims, for example women who are raped.
Sir Neil MacIntosh, the chairman of the board, insists women who apply to become sheriffs or judges have as much chance as men. But he told The Scotsman too few were putting themselves forward for the most senior positions.
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But Sir Neil rejected far more radical moves to improve diversity. "We don't operate quotas," he insisted.
Nicky Kandirikiria, executive director of the equality campaign group Engender, is among those who believe the composition of the judiciary is damaging the justice system.
"You have to consider whether having such a male-dominated judiciary is contributing to the fact we have one of the lowest conviction rates for rape in Western Europe," she said. "We know many women who suffer violence don't go to court because it's so male-dominated. More women judges would help."
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Osama Saeed, the chairman of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, said: " The dispensing of justice requires juries to be of your peers, and the judiciary similarly has to be representative of society. It has an impact in the trust in the system."
Under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill, the appointments board will have to give people posts "solely on merit". However, there are some in the legal profession who believe a candidate's suitability for the job should be based partly on whether they will help create a more diverse judiciary.
But one senior figure said such action could result in the wrong judges being appointed.
Lord McCluskey, a retired judge, said: " The nature of justice does not vary in its character depending on whether the person administering it is male, female, black or white.
"If I go into hospital for brain surgery, I want the very best person for the job. I don't want to be told 'it's your turn to be operated on by someone brought in to create diversity for Bangladeshi immigrants'."
Solely on Merit - what an old fashioned concept, it can't last much longer in these social engineering times.