Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges - Annual Report 2005-2006

Foreword

I am pleased to introduce this annual report on the work of Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges (EMLJ).    Their work is of considerable importance and needs to be better known and better understood.  I very much hope that this report will be a further step in that direction.

EMLJs play a vital role in promoting communities’ confidence in the court system, and 2005-2006 was a particularly productive year.  A highlight was the successful EMLJ Conference, which was held in November 2005.   The Conference provided an opportunity to share experience and advice on engaging with local community groups, and a number of proposals were raised for how better to ensure the work of EMLJs’ reflects more fully the needs of the wider community.   After the Conference, having sought the views of members of the Judicial Studies Board’s Equal Treatment Advisory Committee, we have decided to launch the new broadened role of Diversity and Community Relations Judges at the next Conference, to be held on 30 March 2007.

Further details of last year’s achievements, together with future plans, are set out in the pages which follow.  I welcome the advances which have been made in this area and am most grateful in particular to HHJ Geoffrey Kamil for his efforts in coordinating the work of EMLJs.  I handed over responsibility for the continued work of Diversity and Community Relations Judges to Lord Justice Leveson, who succeeded me as Senior Presiding Judge on 1 January 2007.  However I shall continue to follow progress in this important judicial work with a keen interest.

Lord Justice Thomas
Senior Presiding Judge
December 2006

Review of the year

  1. Progress made

The year saw two important innovations, they are: the creation of contact records for the Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges (EMLJ) and individual annual reporting forms to collect information about the activities of the individual EMLJs.  This novelty emerged as a result of discussions held with Lord Justice Thomas which revealed: a) a need to make available information about the work undertaken by the EMLJs; b) how to contact them; and c) how they can contact each other.

Toward this end, HHJ Geoffrey Kamil undertook the task of drafting the appropriate forms that were approved by Thomas LJ. The forms were thereafter handed to each of the Judges who attended the November 2005 Conference organised for the EMLJs and were sent to those judges who were not in attendance.   The completed forms were submitted to Thomas LJ to meet the purposes for which they were intended.

The individual annual reporting forms set out a summary of the work undertaken by the individual judges in fulfilling their roles. The summary will be useful in providing a record on the work accomplished by the Judges through the year. It could also serve as a guide for other EMLJs in discovering the benefits that can be garnered through different community contacts.

  1. Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges Conference

The second Training Conference for the EMLJs took place on 11th November 2005 at Clifford’s Inn, London. The Conference was attended by 27 of these Judges. Also attending were members of the West Yorkshire Race Issues Advisory Group and DJ Ray Singh and Michael Williams for the Equal Treatment Advisory Committee (ETAC) of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB). There was also a welcomed interest and attendance by Jennifer Joseph of the (DCA) Corporate Diversity Unit.

The most encouraging participation came from Thomas LJ, who opened the Conference, chaired the morning session and delivered closing remarks at the end of the Conference; and Keene LJ who chaired the afternoon session. It was also refreshing that both the Judge LJ and Keene LJ participated in the workshop sessions. Their contributions were very much appreciated by the participants.

A summary of the Conference is attached hereto (Annex A), and provides additional information on the Conference.  The summary offers also some information on the speakers and the contents of their presentations. Most of the participants were pleased by the substantive content of the Conference and felt that it was worthwhile and informative.

A major issue that arose during the Conference was that consideration be given to a suggestion that the title “Ethnic Minority Liaison Judge” be changed to one that is more inclusive, and which could embrace also the presence of whites as minorities in some neighbourhoods, and who can benefit from the attention of EMLJs.  As such, a change in title would therefore reflect that the EMLJs’ duty is available to the wider community which includes also whites when in the minority. The title Circuit Community Liaison Judge was suggested and found favour with participants. Thomas LJ expressed the intent to give some thoughts to the suggestion in addition to seeking the views of the members of ETAC before making a final decision on the matter.  The title Diversity and Community Relations Judge was subsequently adopted.

  1. Future Plans

This is a time of great change in the attitude of the minority ethnic population towards the legal system. Moreover, as  the issues of race and religion attain wider publicity  within the media and the general public, so does the role of the Judge in maintaining fairness in dealing with minorities and issues that affect them and their communities. The work of the EMLJ has therefore assumed greater importance and must evolve in accordance with changes taking place in the society at large. With this in mind;

  1. It has been agreed with Thomas LJ that the future EMLJ Training Conferences would take place every 18 months. Accordingly, plans will be made for the next Conference to be held in March/April 2007. We hope that the timing of the conference could be arranged to avoid possible clashing with other seminars or training events, thereby securing attendance of all Liaison Judges. Also, a suitable programme is to be arranged at a better suited venue.
  2. It is intended that support will be made available to help the organizer in preparing the next Conference, including in the form of general administrative assistance.  This support will facilitate the plan to publish a newsletter every six months on the activities and achievements of the judges. Such a newsletter would serve as an information tool enabling the judges to keep abreast of lessons learned and emerging good practices.
  3. The Felix Conference on the Judicial Information Technology system must be utilised more to disseminate information about work done or to be done. It serves as a valuable and instantaneous vehicle to share information. It has been used to solve problematic issues such as the effect of Muslim prayer times on the conduct of jury trials and can continue to be used for such purposes.
  1. Pending concern

The principal problem remains the method of appointment of the EMLJs and the availability of communication tools through which notification of retirements and fresh appointments can be channelled. In this regard, notification records would need to be kept current. There is now a point of contact for such information with the Private Secretary to the Senior Presiding Judge. Accordingly, it is now possible to append a copy of the latest list of judges serving as EMLJs to this Annual Report (Annex B).

The period covered by this report has been one of change, and, of progress. It may well be that next year, the EMLJ Training Conference will be organised as a training event for Diversity and Community Relations Judges in accordance with the wishes of the Judges as expressed at the 2005 Conference.

H H Judge Geoffrey Kamil

December 2006

Annex A

The Conference for Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges - Friday 11 November 2005 Cliffords Inn, London

The Conference got started at 9.45 after attendees had a chance to register and to get themselves acquainted.

There was an uplifting opening from Thomas LJ who stressed the importance of the work of the EMLJ's, especially at this particular time. He wanted there to be more communication and some accountability in the form of an Annual Report based on the template provided. He suggested that perhaps the best time to complete and return the form to him, would be either the end of the Judicial year or the end of the Financial Year, i.e. 31st March.

Dr. Coles Report

We heard Dr Cole speak to his Report about the confidence of BME people in the Criminal Justice System in West Yorkshire. This is one of 6 Reports on BME confidence in the CJS being prepared for different parts of the country .There is an Executive copy of Dr. Coles Report which was circulated to all EMLJ's who attended on the day. There were several interesting findings including that BME people (in West Yorkshire) tended to base their perceptions of the Criminal Justice System on their view of the Police in their area; there were areas in West Yorkshire where White people formed the minority of the area's population; and on the whole (all attendees were pleased to hear), the Courts were not perceived as doing a particularly bad job.

The EMLJ's: A Personal Perspective

Simon Hammond EMLJ for Leicester gave a very interesting account of the vast amount of work he had been doing in his court area. Simon went on to give many good 'tips' on what to do to try and foster good relationships with the communities in each judges respective areas. For example, he talked about meeting with his local Imam to discuss the concerns of the local Muslim community .He explained the benefits that such discussions had for the Criminal Justice System as a whole. He also gave examples of the problems that can and have occurred because of a lack of awareness about the different cultures in the court areas where judges serve. Simon Hammond seems to have undertaken work over and above what would normally be expected and shamed many of us. It raised the question of Judges being given enough time to perform the role properly.

I also gave a short talk about the work and the contacts I had made in my local area. I reiterated the importance of the valuable work we do. However, I did raise the issue about the difficulties I sometimes encountered because I didn't always have the required administrative support. 

The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO)

There was a presentation from NACRO setting out how they could help the EMLJ's. Contacts were forged and Abi Pointing volunteered to be an initial source of information/contact for any of the judges who needed advice on issues surrounding BME people and Criminal Justice. We were also given some interesting statistics on the effect of Government Legislation -before this Government there was a CJA every 270 days, but since, there has been one every 153 days. 'Food for thought'.

We were joined for the Afternoon session by Sir Igor Judge, and later by David Keene LJ -what a Court of Appeal bench we had for the day!

The Perspective of a Community Judge: HHJ David Fletcher

The Afternoon session started with David Fletcher speaking with infectious enthusiasm, about his work as 'The Red Hook' new Community Judge in Liverpool. He spoke about how the job was set up and the work he does. There was the task of winning over the local residents when they moved into a new building. He did that so well that some of those residents now use the building as a 'community establishment' and even help out. There was an amazing relationship between all the components of the Criminal Justice System, and he made us all jealous by telling us he could get a DTTO Report done within the day. As I commented, 'only a former Stipe' could do that job so well'! For those of you who receive copies look out for a feature story about the Liverpool Community Justice Centre in this months 'Hearsay'.

Syndicate Sessions

After David's speech we began the afternoon Syndicate sessions which resulted in robust discussions that included Sir Igor. David Keene LJ Chaired the 'feedback' session which looked at the various questions. The main points that came out of the sessions were that:

  • There should be more guidance on the role.
  • There was difficulty in trying to find who to contact in various areas that had individual needs.
  • Resident lodges should be involved in the appointment/notification system.
  • There had to be the desire to do the job.
  • There had to be knowledge of the culture of the local community.
  • There was a need to communicate -indeed; 'communication' was a repeated theme of the day.
  • Points of contact should include. Race Equality Council, Council of Faiths, Schools/Colleges/Universities, Race Action Partnerships; Court Diversity Officers.
  • There could be a course on Comparative Religions.
  • There should he a list of contacts of use to all EMLJ's.
  • ET AC could also provide support and be a point of contact.

During the day, there was an impromptu discussion about the Title of EMLJ. There was a suggestion that we should now be called Community Liaison Judges in view of what Dr. Cole had to say about the balance of the population with regards to race and how in some districts the BME population was higher than that of the White population. There was also a feeling that attempts to increase feelings of inclusion among BME communities may create feelings of exclusion among the White community and hence create mistrust because of a perception of bias. It was felt that a new title along the lines of "Community Liaison Judge" may be better to describe the work we do which includes creating contacts with local schools and facilitating student visits to the Courts. There appeared to be strong support for changing the name and nature of the role among the Judiciary.

However, John Thomas LJ who responded earlier in the day to similar concerns and suggestions, felt that changing the name or altering the role may distort the intended focus of the role and may very well end up requiring too much of the judges time. He also added that he was not yet satisfied that the use of the role was now redundant and said that there would need to be more research on this issue. Dr. Cole informed the attendees that the Home Office was going to publish research in this area on national level, and it was suggested that it would be a good idea to see this before any decisions about altering or scraping the role were taken. This information once available will be circulated to all EMLJ's.

The Conference then concluded with the declaration that it was hoped that we would meet again in about 18 months time.

Special Thanks

All our thanks should be given to Thomas LJ for encouraging the Conference and setting up the contacts; also to Kellie Hurst who was thrust into helping with the administration at the last minute due to illness of Jennifer Oldroyd. She did a wonderful job and we could not have done it without her. Many thanks also to Sir Igor and Sir David for their support and valuable time.

HHJ Geoffrey Kamil, November 2005

Annex B

Serving Ethnic Minority Liaison Judges

His Honour Judge Crispin Masterman
His Honour Judge David Matthews
His Honour Judge Andrew McDowall
His Honour Judge Warwick McKinnon
His Honour Judge Neil McKittrick
His Honour Judge Christopher Metcalf
His Honour Judge Christopher Mitchell
Her Honour Judge Deva Pillay
His Honour Judge Simon Pratt
His Honour Judge Jeremy Roberts
His Honour Judge Mervyn Roberts
His Honour Judge Jeremy Roberts QC
His Honour Judge John Rubery
His Honour Judge Anthony Scott-Gall
Her Honour Judge Zoe Smith
His Honour Judge Peter Smith
His Honour Judge Simon Smith QC
His Honour Judge Philip Statman
His Honour Judge John Swanson
His Honour Judge Anthony Thorpe
His Honour Judge David Ticehurst
His Honour Judge Stephen Waller
Her Honour Judge Adele Williams

His Honour Judge Simon Barham
His Honour Judge William Birtles
His Honour Judge Jeremy Burford QC
His Honour Judge Martin Cardinal
His Honour Judge Michael Cartlidge
His Honour Judge Bruce Coles
His Honour Judge Alistair Darroch
His Honour Judge Richard Davis
His Honour Judge John Devaux
His Honour Judge Paul Dodgson
His Honour Judge Mark Eades
His Honour Judge David Fletcher
Her Honour Judge Dawn Freedman
His Honour Judge Jeremy Gosschalk
His Honour Judge Jeremy Griggs
His Honour Judge Simon Hammond
His Honour Judge Jonathan Haworth
His Honour Judge Richard Haworth
His Honour Judge Michael Heath
His Honour Judge Philip Hughes
His Honour Judge Geoffrey Kamil
His Honour Judge Stephen Kramer QC
His Honour Judge Peter Lakin
Her Honour Judge Beverly Lunt