Researchers at the UCL Judicial Institute this week published the findings of the 2024 UK Judicial Attitude Survey (JAS), a biennial longitudinal survey of all serving judges in the UK carried out on behalf of the judiciaries of Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and Scotland.

Almost all judges in Northern Ireland participated in the study, with a 91 per cent response rate among salaried judges and a 71 per cent response rate among fee-paid judges in the courts.

For the first time, judges were asked about stress, with Northern Ireland judges reporting high levels of stress, experiencing symptoms including sleep disturbances (70 per cent), headaches (55 per cent) and irritability (43 per cent).

They attributed that stress to difficulties in achieving a reasonable work/life balance (61 per cent), a lack of personal time due to judicial workload (53 per cent), types of evidence (46 per cent) and personal safety concerns (46 per cent).

Since the last survey two years ago, judges in Northern Ireland feel less safe, with a majority now concerned for their personal security both in court (54 per cent) and out of court (61 per cent).

Less than a quarter (24 per cent) of judges said they feel they are paid a reasonable salary for the work they do.

A majority of salaried judges in Northern Ireland (58 per cent) earned more than their judicial salary prior to their appointment to the salaried judiciary.

Nearly two-thirds of judges (63 per cent) said the salary issue was affecting their own morale, while seven in 10 said it was affecting the morale of other judges.

Most fee-paid judges in Northern Ireland said they earn more in any non-judicial work they do than their day rate for judicial work.

There are concerns about retention with the proportion of salaried judges who say they intend to leave the judiciary early in the next five years increasing from only 33 per cent in 2014 to a majority of 55 per cent in 2014.

Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of salaried judges in Northern Ireland say they feel less respected now than they did two years ago, and two-thirds (67 per cent) were extremely concerned by the loss of respect for the judiciary by government.

Half of judges feel valued by the public, but very few feel valued by the media (13 per cent), the Northern Ireland Executive (12 per cent) or the UK government (12 per cent).

The JAS, now running for a decade, is the only known recurring survey of the working lives of judges currently running in any jurisdiction. There is no equivalent survey south of the border.