Clinical Negligence Made Clear

The Common Law
Who are the judges who make the law? There are 12 justices of the Supreme
Court, about 40 in the Court of Appeal, and about 100 in the High
Court. Statistics published in 2015 showed that about 20% of the judiciary
in the Court of Appeal and High Court were women. Of all judges, 53% of
those under 40 were women, but only 13% of those over 60. Of all judges
who declared their ethnicity, 6% declared their background as Black or Minority
Ethnic. Roughly 65% of all judges had been barristers by profession
and all but one in the High Court or Court of Appeal had been barristers. It
is well known that a relatively small percentage of the senior judiciary were
state educated. These are the men and women who make the common law.
There are clearly arguments to be had about whether they should be more
representative of society, but what we do have is a judiciary that is wholly
independent of political and other special interests and that, at the higher
levels, consistently demonstrates intellectual rigour and honesty.
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