Much to do to improve gender diversity among top barristers, leading judge says

There is still “much to do” to improve gender diversity among England and Wales’ top barristers, despite recent progress, the nations’ leading judge has said.

The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, who became the first woman to hold the office last year, said on Monday that a “modern judiciary should reflect the society it serves” as it improves confidence in the court system and is “just the right thing to do”.

She was speaking at an event at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, celebrating 75 years since the first women “took silk” and became King’s Counsel (KC), the most senior level of barrister in England and Wales.

The event was attended by more than 300 current and former female KCs and judges.

Baroness Carr, who became a KC in 2003, said in a speech that while there had been “great progress” in increasing representation, there was “no room for complacency”.

She said: “We still, of course, have much to do in improving gender diversity at the bar.

“Women are generally well represented in the legal professions although we still see fewer women in the top positions.

“And although progress has been made in improving the prospects for women in the law generally, the path is much harder for some women compared to others.”

The event was organised by High Court judges Mrs Justice Theis, Mrs Justice Morgan and Mrs Justice McGowan, and supported by several legal organisations.

Mrs Justice McGowan, the 120th woman to be called to the Bar, in 2001, said: “This is an occasion of celebration, following the path laid by those few women so many years ago we have moved increasingly towards greater equality in representation for women coming to the Bar and in being appointed silk.

“We have not yet reached parity, but we have made great progress, and I am delighted to mark this wonderful achievement.”

Between 1949 and 1998 only about 100 women took silk, compared with 545 in the following 25 years.

The number now stands at 641, with the newest appointed this year and women now making up 39% of barristers and 21% of KCs.

At the end of her speech, Baroness Carr said that female KCs were “all magnificent” and “an extraordinary inspiration to the profession and to young aspiring lawyers everywhere”.

Eleanor Platt KC, who took silk in 1982, has kept a list of all female KCs and continues to write a personal message to all those who are appointed.

Rose Heilbron and Helena Normanton were the first women to become KCs, in 1949, 30 years after it became legal for women to become barristers.

Ms Heilbron’s daughter, Hilary Heilbron KC, attended Monday’s event and said that her mother “would have been delighted” with the progress, but said there “is still a way to go” in improving representation.

She said: “I am extremely proud to join with so many others in tonight’s celebration of the achievements of my mother, aged only 34, and Helena Normanton, in breaking the mould 75 years ago by being the first women to take silk.

“As a strong and vocal supporter of women’s rights and opportunities for women in the law, my mother would have been delighted to learn of the progress that has been made, slow though it has been.

“Even as late as 1969, she was the only female QC practising at the Bar in the country.

“She would have been thrilled, as I am, that we have gathered here to recognise not only the achievements of 75 years ago, but also of so many other trailblazing women in the legal profession since then, but there is still a way to go.”

Published: 30/09/2024 by Radio NewsHub