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Groundbreaking research about and with judges exploring judicial decision-making, appointments, education and the judicial process
UCL Judicial Institute conducts the UK Judicial Attitude Survey ﴾JAS﴿ and is the only recurring study of the working lives of judges anywhere in the world.Since 2014 the leaders of the judiciaries in all 4 UK jurisdictions have publicly acknowledged the crucial importance of the JAS to the work of the judiciaries across all of the UK.
According to the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales: "Given the fundamental importance of an efficient and effective judiciary to the rule of law and thus to society andto the global and financial standing of the United Kingdom as a whole, the significance of the survey cannot be overstated."
The UK JAS has directly led to the financial settlement between the UK judiciaries and the Government on judicial salaries,to recruitment policies of the judiciary and Judicial Appointments Commission, and to the Chief Justice’s and Judicial Executive Board's policies on judicial wellbeing and training. The reach of the JAS's impact is global, and it has become a model for other jurisdictions.
It is now being used in the development of a UN Declaration on Judicial Wellbeing; it is the acknowledged model for the 2024 Mexico Judicial Attitude Survey, and in 2024 the Irish Judicial Council has requested the assistance of the UCL JI in developing and running a new Irish JAS ﴾to be run in November 2024﴿.
This longitudinal study first ran in 2014, carried out by Professor Cheryl Thomas, Professor of Judicial Studies, Director of UCL Jury Project and Co-Director of the UCL Judicial Institute, at the request of the senior leadership of the judiciary in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The results show that virtually all UK judges have a deep commitment to their job despite strong levels of disenchantment with their working conditions, including a loss of income year on year, deteriorating conditions in court and increasing security concerns in and outside court.
The latest Judicial Attitute Survey for England & Wales and UK Tribunals, Scotland and Northern Ireland was completed by 99% of judges.