Criminal justice system is an 'old boys' network', says solicitor

"It felt like, if your face didn't fit, you're not going to get in."

Umar Kankiya has been a solicitor for five years and told Newsbeat what it was like for him when he first started applying for jobs.

"It can be disheartening at times, there wasn't a lot of people from a black or ethnic minority background getting into law."

His comments come after the government said it was taking steps to tackle "racial bias" in the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

A review found 7% of judges were from ethnic minority groups

Umar said when he was applying for jobs, he felt like you needed to know the right people.

"It felt like an old boys' network. If you don't know the right people or if your face didn't fit you're not going to get in."

A review of the criminal justice system by MP David Lammy in September found 11% of magistrates and 7% of judges were from ethnic minority groups.

One of his recommendations was to have a target so they have more judges from ethnic minorities by 2025.

But the government has decided not to do that.

MP David Lammy has made recommendations to reform the criminal justice system

Justice Secretary David Lidington said: "Setting targets to hire judges from ethnic minority backgrounds would be the wrong way to solve the issue of diversity."

Umar told Newsbeat that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are applying for jobs as judges but are not progressing past the interview stage.

"If we don't have a target for the number of judges we want to have how are we going to change what's in the judiciary?

"It's clear at the moment, the system is not working that well because of the low amount of BAME candidates and judges that we have at present."

Umar thinks having more judges from a BAME background would be a benefit.

"If you're a BAME person going through the criminal justice system and you see someone on the other side that looks like you or talks like you, maybe you'll have more faith in the system."

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