England: Barristers oppose politicians’ input in judicial selection

A survey of English barristers has found overwhelming opposition to President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale’s proposal to involve politicians in the selection of senior judges.

Of nearly 400 barristers surveyed for The Times to coincide with the Annual Bar Conference in London, 87 per cent opposed her proposal.

Lady Hale suggested involving politicians in selecting judges to alleviate public concerns - often connected with Brexit - about a perceived lack of public oversight of judges who can make decisions with political consequences.

However, the idea has not been warmly welcomed by barristers nor by The Bar Council, who are sceptical of piloting it.

Bar Council chairman Andrew Langdon QC said it was “difficult to overstate the importance of our being able to continue to point to the entire absence of political interference in judicial appointments”.

He added that “any piloting of these measures will not be supported by the Bar unless we have confidence that a full and fair evaluation process which will measure our concerns is in place”.

Among other findings of the survey was widespread support for a drive to prosecute online racial hatred: only 37 per cent of respondents agreed with the proposition that the initiative endangered free speech while 63 per cent opposed it.

More than three-quarters (76 per cent) backed recent proposals to charge suspects on a “race-blind” basis.