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Judiciary: Equality

Asked by Nadia WhittomeLabourMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 20 November 2025UIN 91593

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it a statutory duty for judges to comply with guidance in the Equal Treatment Bench Book.

Answered by Sarah Sackman

In line with the principle of judicial independence, it is the senior judiciary and not the Government who have statutory responsibility for judicial guidance and training.

It would therefore not be constitutionally appropriate for the Government to seek to prescribe how this responsibility should be discharged.

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