Two solicitors are among six new commissioners who have been appointed to the body overseeing judicial appointments.
Tanweer Ikram, called to the bar in 1990 and admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1993, will begin his three-year term as a commissioner on Thursday. Ikram became a deputy district judge in 2003 and a district judge in the magistrates’ court six years later. In 2017, he was appointed chief magistrate.
Ikram, who was appointed deputy lead diversity and community relations judge in 2004, was awarded a CBE last year for services to judicial diversity.
Ikram has been a social mobility ambassador for the Law Society. Discussing his career in an interview in 2015, he recalled in the early stage of his career having no idea how to become a judge ‘and honestly thought it was for clever barristers from posh universities. I didn’t see any role models or judges from my ethnic background and I certainly thought that judges weren’t from Wolverhampton Poly!’
Noel Arnold, admitted to the roll in 2006, served as co-chair of the Association of Lawyers for Children from 2017-2019 and was a member of the Law Society’s children law sub-committee for 10 years. He became a judge of the first-tier tribunal (social entitlement chamber) in April 2020, having first served as a fee-paid judge in the same jurisdiction. He currently sits on the senior president of tribunal’s diversity taskforce.
Arnold spoke about the importance of judicial diversity in an interview posted on the judiciary’s website last year.
Asked about the importance of a diverse judiciary, Arnold said: ‘For it to be admired by and to inspire those outside of this country and within, the judiciary needs to be perceived as modern, progressive, and reflective of the society that it aims to serve.’
While there are limits on what the judiciary can do to encourage those from under-represented backgrounds apply for judicial office, ‘it probably can do more to make for an inclusive and supportive working culture where existing judges from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to seek more senior judicial roles. As a diverse judiciary (at all levels) becomes more and more visible, this would (I hope) encourage those from under-represented backgrounds to apply to become judges’, Arnold said.
Arnold’s term begins on 1 January.
The JAC is made up of 14 commissioners. Six must be judges, two must be legally qualified professional members, five must be lay members and one must be a non-legally qualified judicial member.
