For too many people, justice is delivered by a class they cannot join that neither looks nor sounds like them.
The end of the year is always a chance to look back and reflect on people you have met over the past months. In my role as shadow justice minister, I have a lot to be thankful for. I’ve been lucky enough to work with a range of people with an interest in the law – from lawyers who have supported me with policy development, to victims who have bravely spoken out so we can demand action from the government, to charities who are tirelessly working to stem the tide of negative consequences from the government’s disastrous record of cuts to everything from policing to prisons to legal aid.
But this new year I will be thinking of one incredible young woman in particular, who reminds me just how much there is to do to make sure that those responsible for our justice system look like the country they serve.
Earlier this year I met 18 year old Bryony Toon, a care leaver who receives free school meals at Quarrydale School in my former coalfields constituency. She was part of the Sutton Trust’s excellent Pathways scheme, designed to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access the professions.
Despite Bryony’s difficult start in life, she has a monumental drive to succeed. After her post-16 advisor suggested she use her sharp mind, outstanding grades and “strengths in arguing” to explore a career in the law, she set out to seize every opportunity available. She landed work experience at top law firm Clifford Chance, and applied for Oxford University.
This was certainly a smart move. The statistics show your chances of doing almost any job at the top of the legal sector are significantly enhanced if you come from a wealthy background – one thing Bryony cannot achieve through hard work alone.
The Sutton Trust say that 71 per cent of top QCs, 74 per cent of judges and 51 per cent of partners in top law firms had attended an independent school – an astonishing state of affairs given that just seven per cent of children are educated privately. Even amongst less elite legal roles like solicitors, a whopping 27 per cent go to private school, according to figures from the Law Society.
