Overview

• Cordella Bart-Stewart reports being regularly searched by security staff at Birmingham’s court centre despite official exemptions for judges.
• She describes micro-aggressions in the courtroom, including advocates assuming her clerk is the judge and a colleague questioning Jamaicans’ genetic predisposition to violence.
• Ministry of Justice figures show black judges account for just 1.3% of court appointments and 1.7% of tribunal members, a share threatened by ongoing retirements.
• Earlier this month she helped launch the UK Association of Black Judges to support current black judges and encourage qualified black lawyers to seek judicial roles.
• Bart-Stewart has urged a revamp of the Judicial Appointments Commission, proposing the removal of serving judges from selection panels and the use of artificial intelligence to curb subjective bias.