The traditional view of judges

Plan to Let Lay People Help Choose Judges

The Lord Chancellor's Department said plans are being drawn up for a radical change in the appointments process for the judiciary.

The Labour government is bothered enough by the fact that judges are overwhelmingly white and male and privileged.

The proposals would inject a measure of public scrutiny and accountability into the appointment of senior judicial figures in a bid to redress the balance of a judiciary dominated by white, middle-class men.

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A spokesman for the Lord Chancellor's Department confirmed the the Government was considering the changes.

But he said the suggestion that a consultation paper on the reforms will be published in the summer was "pure speculation".

He pointed out that establishing a judicial appointments commission had been a long-standing Labour commitment.

The spokesman said the proposal had not been in the manifesto and the Lord Chancellor would want to consult widely before putting any concrete proposals together.

The Commons Home Affairs select committee looked into the possibility of setting up such a commission last year and the Law Society and the Association of Women Barristers argued in favour of it.