Diversity and Inclusion
Justice for everyone
The Supreme Court (and JCPC) is committed to providing fair and open access to justice for everyone. We recognise, respect and value diversity, serving the interests of people from all sections of society.
We continue to proactively reflect the diversity of the society we serve and truly value the contributions all sections of society make to our work.
Accessibility is also important to our work. We have a building that is physically accessible to all and find ways to support visitors with disabilities, including people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or partially sighted.
We were the first court in the UK to stream all cases live on our website, and are working to improve our website where possible.
Our diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy
This strategy will help us realise our vision to be a true reflection of the society we live in, to respect our differences and support equal opportunity for everyone. At its heart, we do this because it is the right thing to do and, in many ways, needs no further justification.
We want every single member of staff to feel a sense of belonging at the Court, to know that everyone can contribute their views and that these will be valued. And we also know that the business case for this is overwhelming: more diverse organisations are more productive, make better decisions, have a higher sense of wellbeing and are more reflective of the society we are all part of.
The new UKSC D&I Strategy for 2021-2025 sets out how we intend to deliver on this ambition and builds on the good work we have done previously. It shares the Civil Service ambition to be recognised as one the UK's most inclusive employers and supports the actions and activities that deliver the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
This strategy is ambitious. It demonstrates our collective commitment to ensuring the Court is a workplace in which every member of staff can bring their best self to work and flourish.
UKSC Diversity Inclusion and Belonging Strategy and Action Plan
Judicial diversity and inclusion strategy
The UK Supreme Court's commitment to diversity and inclusion is deeply rooted in our values and will be exemplified in our place of work, our activities and our judicial diversity and inclusion strategy. We recognise that diversity brings richness to the judiciary and helps us better understand and serve the public. We believe that attracting, developing and retaining a diverse judiciary is essential to the Court and the people that we serve.
The Court recognises that it has a leadership role to play to support increasing diversity of the judiciary and to communicate the Court's support for diversity and inclusion to the legal profession and the public. The overarching aims of this strategy are to support the progress of underrepresented groups into judicial roles and to achieve an inclusive and respectful working environment for justices where differences are valued.
This strategy will guide our work and focus our activities on achieving our objectives in the short and medium term. We will keep the action plan as a living document, updating it over the life of the strategy (2021-2025).
Internship Programme
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was privileged to invite eight lawyers to join the Court in the first week of November 2021 for a Pilot Internship Programme in partnership with Bridging the Bar.
The brochure produced by Bridging the Bar and found here provides more information on the scheme and testimonials from the interns and those that helped make the week last year such a success.
The intention behind the scheme is to help encourage lawyers from under-represented groups and differing backgrounds not to be deterred aiming for an ambitious career in the law, and also to break down any pre-conceived ideas about the Court and the Justices, linking with the aspirations in the Court's Diversity & Inclusion Strategy.
As a first pilot it far exceeded everyone's expectations, and it has been agreed that the scheme will run again in 2022. Interested applicants will be able to apply via Bridging the Bar later in the year when the opportunity will be advertised.