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The UK Supreme Court has appointed a female judge to the top bench, a move that doubles the number of women on the panel and highlights how male-dominated the institution remains.
Lady Justice Simler will join the top court on November 14 following the retirement of Lord Kitchin, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. Along with Lady Rose, Simler will be one of two women on the 12-strong bench.
Simler was made a High Court judge in 2013 and appointed to the Court of Appeal six years later. She has experience in employment law, tax, public law and criminal law, and was president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
The Supreme Court acknowledged criticisms over the UK judiciary’s record on diversity as it announced Simler’s appointment. She is only the fifth female justice appointed since the UK’s top court was set up in its current form in 2009.
There has never been a non-white judge at the Supreme Court. Before 2009, the UK’s highest court was part of the House of Lords.
“We know that certain people, including women, black, Asian, and other ethnic minority groups, and disabled lawyers continue to be under-represented in the judiciary,” the Supreme Court said.
“Progress is being made but more needs to be done to increase the pace of change,” it added.
Women make up 42 per cent of judges, according to the latest statistics on judicial diversity published in July.
Non-white judges have increased from 7 per cent to 11 per cent over the past decade, the report said. The figure is lower than the proportion of ethnic minority barristers and solicitors in the industry, 16 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.
Simler’s appointment comes after Dame Sue Carr was sworn in as lady chief justice this month, the first woman to take up the role in its 750-year history. The chief justice is the head of the judiciary and president of the courts of England and Wales.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, master of the rolls, described Carr’s appointment as a “landmark in our national life” at the swearing-in ceremony on October 2.
He cautioned that “work remains for us all to make our judiciary as diverse and as inclusive as it should be”.
Simler was appointed chair of the diversity committee of the Judges’ Council in 2019. One of the roles of the Judges’ Council is to advise the lord or lady chief justice on issues related to the judiciary.
