Written Question·Ministry of Justice·UIN 91593
Judiciary: Equality
Tabled: 17 November 2025
Answered: 20 November 2025
Named DayQuestion
Nadia Whittome
Labour — Nottingham East
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.
Answer
Sarah SackmanIn 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.