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The judicial service of England and Wales has been forced to apologize for the second time in three months after a lawyer of color was mistaken for a defendant twice in one day.
Student lawyer Luke McLean was assumed to be the defendant in a London magistrates court last week, when he asked a courtroom staff member if the boards listing the day’s cases were accurate, as his customer was not on the list.
“I am wearing a three-piece suit and as a professional you ask things differently than you would as a defendant. I think I was also carrying my laptop, ”McLean said.
“But the first thing you answered was, are you the accused? He didn’t ask if I was the attorney or the probation officer. It could have been anyone. But the first assumption he makes is that I am the defendant. “
When McLean went to the administration desk to make sure his client was on the list for the day’s proceedings, a staff member asked if he had received a subpoena letter, again implying that he was the defendant.
A spokesman for the Courts and Tribunals Service said they were “deeply sorry” for the “unacceptable experience,” just three months after apologizing to attorney Alexandra Wilson after she was mistaken for a defendant three times in one day.
Wilson tweeted that McLean’s experience was “ridiculous.”
“Why haven’t all employees been informed that all they need to do is * ASK * how they can help? Honestly, if reference cards are needed explaining how to address court users, so be it, ”he wrote.
McLean said that while the incident was “heartbreaking,” it was not unusual.
“It happens a lot in different contexts, from the court staff to the parole offers and the caller list,” he said. “The first thing you do in court is go through security, which has a list of all the defendants who must attend court. Many times the security staff asked me who I am, looking at the list and asking where I am on the list. He has lists of callers yelling the names of the defendants and looking at me.
“There is a preconceived idea that because I am a young person of color, I could not be the lawyer.”
McLean said he was inundated with messages from other people of color about similar experiences they’ve had in the court system and beyond. He called for better training for all judicial personnel on racial prejudice, but said the issue was much broader than the judicial system.
“If these assumptions did not exist in society at large, they would not exist in our courts,” he said. “There is no point in having an isolated discussion about systemic racism in court. I believe that all workplaces should encourage this type of training. I don’t want this to happen to anyone again. “
In a statement, the Courts and Tribunals Service said it remains “fully committed to playing our role in the fight against discrimination.”
The agency has been developing a racial action plan that works with court users and representatives to enhance the experience of people of color in the court system, and recently established a network for ethnic minority staff. They are also in the process of extending their racial awareness training to all employees.
“We know there is more to do: Open forums are already taking place to improve our understanding of the challenges faced by ethnic minority colleagues and racial awareness training is being expanded for all staff,” said a spokesperson.
