Judges and tribunal members
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- on 1 April 2024, 86.1% of all judges and non-legal tribunal members were white, and 8.2% were Asian (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
- at the time of the 2021 Census, 80.7% of working age people were white, 10.1% were Asian, 4.4% were black, 2.5% had mixed ethnicity, and 2.3% were from the ‘other’ ethnic group
- on 1 April 2024, 89.6% of court judges and 87.0% of tribunal judges were white
- Asian people made up 5.3% of court judges and 7.4% of tribunal judges – the second highest percentages after white people
- black people made up 1.3% of court judges and 1.7% of tribunal judges
- 81.6% of non-legal tribunal members were white, and 12.0% were Asian
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures:
- the number of judges in courts in England and Wales
- the number of judges and non-legal tribunal members in England and Wales
Data is based on a headcount taken on 1 April every year.
The data includes most tribunals in England and Wales, and a small number of employment tribunals in Scotland.
Tribunals decide on cases like workplace disputes and appeals against benefits decisions. Judges usually chair tribunal hearings, but non-legal members like doctors and accountants also take part.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Not included in the data
The data does not include tribunals that are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Judges and non-legal tribunal members are asked to give their ethnicity from a list of 18 ethnic groups.
Data is shown for 5 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- ‘other’
This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole.
Data is based on the number of judges and non-legal tribunal members for whom ethnicity has been declared. 12.1% of court judges, 8.6% of tribunal judges and 8.8% of non-legal tribunal members did not give their ethnicity.
Methodology
Download the detailed methodology document for this data.
If people have more than one role, only their main role is included in the data.
3. By ethnicity
| All | Court Judges | Tribunal Judges | Non-legal tribunal members | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All % | All Number | Court Judges % | Court Judges Number | Tribunal Judges % | Tribunal Judges Number | Non-legal tribunal members % | Non-legal tribunal members Number |
| All | 100.0 | 8,413 | 100.0 | 3,667 | 100.0 | 1,631 | 100.0 | 3,115 |
| Asian | 8.2 | 623 | 5.3 | 172 | 7.4 | 110 | 12.0 | 341 |
| Black | 2.0 | 152 | 1.3 | 41 | 1.7 | 26 | 3.0 | 85 |
| Mixed | 2.4 | 180 | 2.9 | 92 | 2.8 | 41 | 1.7 | 47 |
| White | 86.1 | 6,505 | 89.6 | 2,888 | 87.0 | 1,297 | 81.6 | 2,320 |
| Other | 1.3 | 96 | 1.0 | 31 | 1.1 | 16 | 1.7 | 49 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 857 | N/A* | 443 | N/A* | 141 | N/A* | 273 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Justice
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
This data is used by ministers and officials in central government, the Judicial Appointments Commission and Judicial Office to develop policy on judicial diversity.
It is also used by judges, lawyers and academics, and professional bodies such as The Bar Council, The Law Society, and The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, time, geography, court_tribunal, appointment, value, denominator, numerator