The Judiciary

How does the media portray the judiciary?

they are out of touch with modern society

BIASED JUDGEMENTS

judges sometimes suspected of making biased judgements

reason: tend to come from narrow, unrepresentative section of society

BACKGROUNDS

• 68% of judges are male

• more than half are aged over 50

• minority ethnic groups under represented

• 74% privately educated

Why might this cause their judgements to be biased?

the may favour people who are similar to them

may have lack of empathy in certain cases

GENDER BIAS

judge sentenced man to probation for assaulting a 6 year old girl

same year - jailed a woman for refusing to give evidence against her ex boyfriend who assaulted her

What is a more common form of bias today?

class bias

UNDULY LENIENT SENTENCES SCHEME

allows victims and public to apply for Solicitor General for a sentence to be reviews if they felt it was unduly lenient

applies to sentences for serious offences - rape, murder, trafficking etc.

minister agrees there was error - Court of Appeal asked to review sentence and increase if necessary

UNDULY SEVERE SENTENCES

judges / magistrates sometimes make sentences too harsh for minor offences

EXAMPLE: 2011 Riots

• offenders received custodial sentences for minor theft offences