Female advocates, male non-advocates and wheelchair users are all flummoxed by this sign for the toilets at the Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice contains what may be the least politically correct sign that remains in modern Britain today.
The sign — which Legal Cheek was notified of yesterday — could almost be dismissed as quaint if it wasn’t for the legal profession’s terrible problems with gender diversity at its senior levels.
Just to recap:
Just one out of 12 judges in the UK Supreme Court is female.
Women make up just 11% of QCs.
Women make up just 23% of partners at the UK’s top law firms.
Happily, after Legal Cheek alerted HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to the sign this morning we can report that a temporary change has been made to replace the word ‘Advocates’ with ‘Gentlemen’s’. A spokesperson for HMCTS said:
“We apologise for any offence that the sign has caused and it has been changed.”