Report shows UK behind rest of Europe in achieving gender equality in the judiciary

The Council of Europe has published a report which shows that only 23% of the judiciary in England and Wales is female.  The average for Europe is 48%.  Only Azerbaijan and Armenia have a more male-dominated judiciary.

The Report also notes that UK judges are the third highest paid in Europe, earning an average of £197,750 a year.  In England and Wales there are 3.6 professional judges per 100,000 of the population, much lower than other European countries.  For each professional judge there are 83 practising lawyers.