IS IT REALLY the case

— as lady Brenda hale, President of the supreme Court, has now argued — that women judges improve the quality of justice?

ordinarily i bridle at the idea that the answer to everything in life is ‘more women’.

however, during the time when my husband was Justice secretary, i got a glimpse into the cloistered world of the law. And i was struck by the degree to which it remains overwhelmingly male in a very old-fashioned way.

Complex decisions on guilt and innocence are decided on the basis of dry, cold logic, or debated in rapier battles of words between bumptious men.

The women barristers and judges i met were every bit as intelligent as the men — in some cases sharper. But they also had a human insight the men often lacked — a higher level of emotional intelligence that at times proved invaluable, particularly in cases involving family law.

There are times when a woman’s life experience does, perhaps, allow for better decision-making.