Penny Darbyshire

Where do English and Welsh judges come from

T his article examines the backgrounds of a sample of 77 English and Welsh judges in an ambitious research project sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation, in which I work-shadowed and interviewed a core sample of 40 judges at every level of the court structure, in 2003–5, with the aim of finding out what modern judges do and what they are like. I interviewed a further 37.

A refreshing change from the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice

I consider Aulds Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales (2001) to be a really useful contribution to the everlasting debate on the criminal process. It is an erudite, educative document. There cannot be any reader with the depth of knowledge spanning the range of subjects Auld investigates. We, the receiving public, the academics, the pressure groups and the politicians should thank our lucky stars the right people were engaged on the job, in the sense that, whatever we think of Aulds recommendations, we cannot complain of a shallow or ill-informed view. Auld and all his team were open-minded and anxious to learn, such a refreshing change from the members of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice 1991-3 who, at the outset of their investigation, set their faces against investigating summary justice and produced a warped report of limited value, which was heavily condemned by academics and others.