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35 Legal Stud. 1 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/legstd35 and id is 1 raw text is: Legal Studies, Vol. 35 No. 1, 2015, pp. 1-29 DOI: 10.1111/lest.12074 Winner of the SLS Annual Conference Best Paper Prize 2014 Reframing the judicial diversity debate: personal values and tacit diversity Rachel J Cahill-O'Callaghan* Cardiff University It has long been argued that the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, now the UK Supreme Court, is characterised by Justices who are white and male, with a public school and Oxbridge education. Despite continuous debate and reflection on the lack of diversity, by academics, government and the popular press, little has changed. These debates have centred on explicit diversity, overt characteristics that are easily codified and reflect how the judiciary is seen. Drawing on the psychological theory of decision making, this paper argues that judicial decisions are subject to tacit influences that are not limited to overt characteristics. Personal values serve as one such tacit influence on decision making. Personal values are formed by life experiences and reflect many of the characteristics identified within the explicit diversity debates. However personal values are influenced by more than simple demographic variables. This paper uses the example ofpersonal values to highlight the fact that despite the lack of explicit diversity, there is an element of tacit diversity in the Supreme Court, which is reflected in judicial decisions. The impact of these findings serves to extend the debates surrounding diversity, highlighting the limitation of debates centred on explicit diversity alone. Rachel J Cahill-O'Callaghan, Cardif Law School, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CFIO 3AX, Wales. Email: Cahill-OCallaghanR@cardiffac.uk ... in disputed points you need a variety of perspectives and life experiences to get the best possible results. You will not get the best possible results if everybody comes at the same problem from exactly the same point of view. You need a variety of dimensions of diversity, I am talking not only about gender and ethnicity but about professional background, areas of expertise and every dimension that adds to the richer collective mix and makes it easier to have genuine debates. Lady Hale' * The author was the recipient of the 2010-2011 Cardiff Law School PhD Scholarship. The author wishes to thank her PhD supervisors, Annette Morris, Jiri Priban and Richard Moorhead, for their help and advice; Alan Paterson, Roseanne Russell and Andrew Lynch for comments on an early draft; and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This work has been presented in summary as a poster at the Socio-Legal Scholars Association Meeting 2012 and won the SLSA poster prize 2012. 1. Lady Hale, written evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. 'Judicial appointments' (HL Paper 272, 28 March 2012) para 90. @ 2015 The Society of Legal Scholars

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