Exclusive: Letter with more than 60 signatories says membership ‘perpetuates systemic discrimination against women’
A group of more than 60 lawyers in England and Wales have called on all judges who are members of the men-onlynaming dozens of senior figures in the judiciary as current members of a club that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.
The letter notes that efforts to improve the judiciary’s poor diversity record have had limited success. “Female judges remain a minority, particularly women of colour, despite efforts to increase greater diversity and inclusivity,” it says. “We therefore ask that any judge, whether they are a full-time member of the judiciary or fee-paid, resign their Garrick Club membership with immediate effect.
Although club rules prohibit the discussion of business, these guidelines are understood to be regularly flouted. “If they cannot trust women to sit with them in the clubby corridors of power, we cannot trust them to do the right thing by women. Advocates must now seriously consider whether in some cases it might be appropriate to ask a judge whether he is a member of the Garrick and, if so, to ask that he recuse himself so that justice can be seen to be done,” she wrote.
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