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JUDGES TRAINED IN NEURO-DIVERSITY (August-08)
Melanie Jameson, DANDA Special Advisor
Melanie Jameson, DANDA Special Advisor
August 27th, was a red letter day for DANDA.
We took part in a recording session making training materials, which will put Neuro-diversity at the heart of training for civil-court judges in England and Wales.
This was the most recent part of my on-going commitment to ensure that Neuro-diversity features on the radar of the various agencies in the justice system.
To date the following milestones have been achieved:
1. Sending a detailed submission to the head of the judicial Equal Treatment Advisory Committee
2. Working with Judge Ashton to write a whole section on Neuro-diversity in their Equal Treatment Bench Book and to revise the glossary of disabilities with up-to-date information. (This revised Bench Book will be circulated towards the end of the year.)
3. Linking with the Law Society and the Bar Council to provide information for solicitors and barristers on how Neuro-diverse people are disadvantaged in legal processes and what can be done to support them. This will be followed up by accredited training.
4. Working with the Diversity Manager of Her Majesty’s Court Services towards the same ends.
Back to the 27th: In some ways this was one of the most bizarre days of my life! DANDA had produced a script, to be made into a DVD, which consisted of an ignorant but well-meaning judge interviewing someone with ND and me (as a specialist) about why taking account of ND was such an important issue. The ‘someone with ND’ was Brother Matthew, whom some of you will know and who has recently joined DANDA.
When we arrived at the Civil Justice Centre in Birmingham things were in full swing with four other scenes to be filmed. Since all the scripts were highlighting various disability issues I was looking out for whoever who would be
demonstrating ‘lack of mental capacity’ – she was easy to spot in brightly coloured but strangely haphazard clothes, a woolly hat and enormous pom pom slippers! I did not immediately realise that she was a district judge, as were all the other actors except Matthew and me! As they chatted, sorted out costumes and ‘got into character’ it was an extraordinary insight into judges’ lives which few of us are privileged to see.
Judge Ashton had set us up with Judge MacDuff, the top judge on the civil law side (I should point out that these DVDs were designed for judges specialising in civil and family cases rather than criminal law.) All too aware that Matthew needed the back-up of his lines on a nearby flip chart, we decided that it would illustrate ND problems if this fact was brought into the DVD.
After hanging around for three hours
(and it felt like three days – just what happens in court hearings!) they were ready to film our script.
Judge MacDuff decided to start with a new
introductory section emphasising why judges really need to take this on board, inserting
leading questions throughout and finished by brandishing the Bench Book proclaiming ‘We judges really need to have another look at this!’
What could be better? Only the fact that, as a High Court Judge, Judge MacDuff also deals with criminal issues and can hopefully open the door to bring these same concerns to circuit judges (on the criminal side).
Last but not least, I am travelling to the UNESCO conference commemorating 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to give an international dimension to our concern about the undermining of our right to a fair trial. Keep your fingers crossed!
We took part in a recording session making training materials, which will put Neuro-diversity at the heart of training for civil-court judges in England and Wales.
This was the most recent part of my on-going commitment to ensure that Neuro-diversity features on the radar of the various agencies in the justice system.
To date the following milestones have been achieved:
1. Sending a detailed submission to the head of the judicial Equal Treatment Advisory Committee
2. Working with Judge Ashton to write a whole section on Neuro-diversity in their Equal Treatment Bench Book and to revise the glossary of disabilities with up-to-date information. (This revised Bench Book will be circulated towards the end of the year.)
3. Linking with the Law Society and the Bar Council to provide information for solicitors and barristers on how Neuro-diverse people are disadvantaged in legal processes and what can be done to support them. This will be followed up by accredited training.
4. Working with the Diversity Manager of Her Majesty’s Court Services towards the same ends.
Back to the 27th: In some ways this was one of the most bizarre days of my life! DANDA had produced a script, to be made into a DVD, which consisted of an ignorant but well-meaning judge interviewing someone with ND and me (as a specialist) about why taking account of ND was such an important issue. The ‘someone with ND’ was Brother Matthew, whom some of you will know and who has recently joined DANDA.
When we arrived at the Civil Justice Centre in Birmingham things were in full swing with four other scenes to be filmed. Since all the scripts were highlighting various disability issues I was looking out for whoever who would be
demonstrating ‘lack of mental capacity’ – she was easy to spot in brightly coloured but strangely haphazard clothes, a woolly hat and enormous pom pom slippers! I did not immediately realise that she was a district judge, as were all the other actors except Matthew and me! As they chatted, sorted out costumes and ‘got into character’ it was an extraordinary insight into judges’ lives which few of us are privileged to see.
Judge Ashton had set us up with Judge MacDuff, the top judge on the civil law side (I should point out that these DVDs were designed for judges specialising in civil and family cases rather than criminal law.) All too aware that Matthew needed the back-up of his lines on a nearby flip chart, we decided that it would illustrate ND problems if this fact was brought into the DVD.
After hanging around for three hours
(and it felt like three days – just what happens in court hearings!) they were ready to film our script.
Judge MacDuff decided to start with a new
introductory section emphasising why judges really need to take this on board, inserting
leading questions throughout and finished by brandishing the Bench Book proclaiming ‘We judges really need to have another look at this!’
What could be better? Only the fact that, as a High Court Judge, Judge MacDuff also deals with criminal issues and can hopefully open the door to bring these same concerns to circuit judges (on the criminal side).
Last but not least, I am travelling to the UNESCO conference commemorating 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to give an international dimension to our concern about the undermining of our right to a fair trial. Keep your fingers crossed!
