Values diversity in the UK Supreme Court: Abandoning the ‘don’t-ask-don’t-tell’ policy

Abstract

The case for greater judicial diversity has generally been constructed in terms of the need to appoint more women and those from minority ethnic groups. This article shifts the focus from demographic to cognitive diversity. Drawing on new insights and methodologies from the behavioural sciences on judges’ personal values and analysing the relationship between demographic diversity and values diversity, it sets out the case for the potential benefits of values diversity on the United Kingdom Supreme Court. The article argues that values are already implicitly taken into account in judicial appointments and challenges the claim that seeking values diversity among the Justices would inevitably lead to a United States-style partisan political court. It proposes greater openness around values in the judicial appointments process to make explicit what is currently tacit and to lift the judicial values blackout, which has given rise to a ‘don't-ask-don't-tell’ approach to the role of Justices’ values in decision making.