My Lords, I support the amendment to make the judicial retirement age 72, rather than 75. I should first declare that I was a judge adversely affected by the current mandatory retirement age of 70: I had to retire in 2019. I thought I had a good five years left in me, but it was not to be. None the less, I support the amendment down to 72.
I was also chair of the diversity committee of the Judges’ Council until 2019 and I spent a lot of my professional life trying to improve diversity on the
Bench for judges and magistrates. I had some success, but it was limited success. We organised mentoring schemes, application workshops, outreach events of every kind and support of every kind for women, BAME lawyers, employed lawyers, academics and solicitors, encouraging them to apply for a judicial post. I must have spoken to hundreds over the years, and I never once heard an argument that the retirement age was a factor in their not applying for the Bench. There were many other complex factors, particularly for solicitors, and it was not the retirement age.
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If ever we triggered an interest from someone who said, “Well, I’m a tax solicitor. You don’t want to have me on the Bench”, I would say, “Yes, we do”. The problem then became that, because a limited number of judges are appointed each year and a limited number of selection exercises are run by the Judicial Appointments Commission each year, there would be no vacancies in their chosen area for some years.
I will give one example. The first rung for the likes of me, a criminal practitioner, was to become a recorder of the Crown Court. The last recorder selection exercise closed in September 2020. No recorder selection exercise took place this year and none is as yet advertised for 2022. Few applicants get through on their first attempt, and it is hard to maintain their interest and enthusiasm when they realise that there will not be another judicial bus coming along for years. Allowing all current judges to sit until they are 75 will mean that there are even fewer empty buses because they will be clogged up by the likes of me, waving their Freedom Passes, so I do not accept that raising the age to 75 will not adversely impact the diversity of the Bench. Raising it to 72 will have an impact on diversity, but I can live with that for the reasons given by the Minister and others. It is impossible to improve the diversity of the Bench significantly in the years to come—that is when we need to do it because the public demand it—unless there is a constant flow of new recruits and a fair system of appointment to the Bench.
The MoJ recognised the impact on diversity in its response to the consultation on this issue, and has committed to improving diversity by supporting the Judicial Diversity Forum. I sat on that forum and do not for one moment doubt the commitment of its members, but its success has been limited despite the commitment and determination of all those involved. Even if it improves its success rate and manages to attract and support far more applicants from non-traditional backgrounds, they can be appointed only to a vacant post. Raising the mandatory retirement age of judges to 75 is bound to restrict the number of vacant posts, which is why I support the amendment.