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25 November 2009

Freemason judges to be left secret

Following representations by The United Grand Lodge of England in May the Justice Secretary has decided judicial applicants will no longer be required to declare if they are Freemasons. In 1998 it became policy that those seeking to judicial office had to make their membership of the Freemason Society known. Ministry of Justice figures indicate there are 3,808 judges in England and Wales and 205 or 5.4 per cent are Freemasons. There are also 29,702 magistrates, of whom 1,900 or 6.4 per cent are Freemasons.
 
Jack Straw was criticised during Commons question time for his decision, with allegations that a ‘cloak of secrecy’ would be created again which would undermine and compromise the impartiality of the court system. Mr Straw claimed that his review had shown no evidence of malpractice and commented that his decision was made following a European Court of Human Rights judgment against the state of Italy, which was made in 2006. He said: “…a continuation of a compulsory register...was likely to be unlawful. After legal advice I accepted that. It is open to any judge to declare that they are Freemasons."
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