Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 14995 on Judicial Appointments, which relevant underrepresented protected characteristic or characteristics were taken into account in each of the recommendations for judicial appointment made following application of the Equal Merit Provision.

Given the relatively small numbers of appointments involved in many exercises, disclosure of the protected characteristic(s) taken into account in individual applications of the Equal Merit Provision could enable individual judicial appointees to be identified. It would therefore not be appropriate to publish this information.

The Judicial Appointments Commission provides a summary of the use of the Equal Merit Provision in its annual report each year. The most recent report can be found at: https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/corp-publication/annual-report-and-accounts-2025-26/