7. What discussions has the Counsel General had regarding promoting gender equality within the legal profession in Wales? OAQ(5)0009(CG)

As Counsel General, I have not yet had any specific discussions regarding promoting gender equality within the legal profession in Wales. However, equality is an important aspect of my desire that the legal sector in Wales is to be cherished and nurtured, supported and encouraged to innovate and grow, but is also representative of the society in which it operates.

I thank the Counsel General for that response. Statistics from the Bar Standards Board show that, amongst barristers, the gender balance is almost equal in terms of barristers being called to the bar. But, by the time it comes to practising as a barrister, there is a huge difference, with almost twice as many men as women actually practising as barristers. What is the Counsel General’s view as to what can be done to tackle this issue in the legal profession?

Whilst not, perhaps, directly relevant to the question, the Welsh Government has made representations in these areas, in particular about the composition of the Supreme Court. The issue has also been raised by the Judicial Appointments Commission itself and by a number of justices themselves. The Member may well be aware of some of the comments made by Baroness Hale, the sole woman on the Supreme Court. There are some data that the Members may be interested in: there are 108 high court judges and, of them, 21 are women and three come from an ethnic minority background. In the Supreme Court, of 12, there is only one female, and that is Baroness Hale. They are predominantly white, male, privately educated and, in general, unrepresentative. Under way at the moment are considerations of appointments of a number of deputy High Court judges and High Court judges. There is one Supreme Court judge to be replaced, and five to be replaced in due course over the next couple of years due to retirements. Of course, Lady Justice Hale said that the UK Supreme Court should be ashamed if it doesn’t increase diversity. What she also said, of course, is that, of the 13 appointments over the decade that she has sat, all but two were from Oxford or Cambridge, and all but three went to boys boarding schools.

The point, I think, that the Member is making, of course, is that our judicial system, to have the confidence of the people, should be representative of the people. I think it is very clear that, not only in terms of the representations made by the Welsh Government, but within the Judicial Appointments Commission itself and within the legal sector itself, there is a recognition that there is a need for far greater diversity. The UK has one of the lowest proportions of female judges in Europe, and this is something that has to be addressed. We also have to pay some attention, I think, to the actual legal profession itself, because, from start to finish, the number of female lawyers is where the judges are ultimately selected from. So, we have to ask why the system has failed up to now. If we look at the Queen’s Counsel system, only 13 per cent of those are women. So, there are significant issues that, I think, have been recognised but are hopefully going to be addressed, and are very much in line with the thinking of Welsh Government and representations from Welsh Government itself.

I thank the Counsel General.