ABSTRACT
The judiciary plays a pivotal role in the UK’s constitution, comprising, together with the legislature and executive, one of the three branches of government.1 For this reason, a discussion of the judiciary is customarily included in both public law classes and textbooks. These analyses of the judiciary commonly take the form of an outline of the court structure, the hierarchy of judicial offices and the importance of the independence of the judiciary; such discussions generally forming a preface to a discussion of the law making function of the judiciary and its role in judicial review.2 Although highlighting the significance of the judiciary’s role in the constitution, many analyses tend to treat the judiciary as a given; a predetermined institution, the composition of which is axiomatic. Thus, although the actions of the judiciary are examined by public law scholars and students alike, little consideration is given to possible links between the composition of the judiciary and the fulfilment of its constitutional role.
