![]() ![]() She gave as her reason the likelihood that the vast majority of people who would lose out as a result of this precedent would be women. Lady Hale was the only one of the nine justices to dissent from the majority verdict. This was a case involving a pre-nuptial agreement between marriage partners, in which a majority of the Supreme Court justices upheld the principle that claims made in the event of a divorce should be limited. This was a case involving a pre-nuptial agreement between marriage partners, The fact that it has only one female member was significant in the case of Radmacher v Granatino (2010). This reinforces a long-standing anxiety about the senior judiciary as a whole - that it contains a disproportionate number of white, privately educated males.The fact that it has only one female member was significant in the case of Radmacher v Granatino (2010). 71 per cent of senior judges had attended private schools, and 75 per cent had attended Oxford or Cambridge university. The narrowness of the Supreme Court's composition in terms of gender, social and educational background is a real concern. ![]() Similar arguments have been used to suggest that judges are biased against women, and ethnic minorities. In his classic study of the politics of the judiciary, Griffiths (2010) argued that a conservative bias tends to operate within the senior judiciary, which stems from the fact that judges are predominantly male, white, upper- middle-class and public-school and ‘Oxbridge’ educated. A judge may serve on an official body such as a government commission provided that it does not compromise his or her political neutrality. Judges may write and give lectures as part of their function of educating the public, and they may involve themselves in charitable and voluntary activities, but they must avoid political activity. However, as will be seen, these restrictions have been relaxed since the late 1980s. The ‘Kilmuir rules’, issued in the mid-1950s, forbade judges from participating in public debates about policy matters in order to preserve their neutrality. Judges have traditionally been discouraged from speaking out on political matters and from becoming involved in public controversy. In recent years, accountability has been strengthened, the JAC and other bodies, and regular accounts given by the Lord Chief Justice and other judges to parliamentary committees Accountability is also upheld by the existence of appeals and, therefore, by the knowledge that cases can be reheard by higher courts. A further factor that strengthens objectivity is that senior judges must explain their rulings, highlighting, in the process, the points of law that have affected them. The extensive process of legal training (senior judges have usually worked as barristers or junior judges for between 20 and 30 years) is designed to enable judges to focus entirely on legal considerations.Their ability to act impartially and objectively is strengthened by the requirement that court proceedings are conducted fairly and that judgements are based on evidence.
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