If criminal court judges were hoping to be held in high esteem by the British general public, they may have hoped for too much. According to a recent daily poll by YouGov, nearly three-quarters of UK residents believe they'd do just fine presiding over a criminal court, given appropriate training. However, around 25 per cent of the 4,075 people who responded to the survey said that while they'd probably make a pretty good judge, they don't think they would find the profession enjoyable. That's not to say that a career in the judiciary doesn't have appeal—around half of respondents said they'd be keen on being a criminal court judge, regardless of whether they felt they'd be good at it.

Mere mortals

Survey respondents empathised with the burdens of stress and fatigue that face judges in British criminal courts, where the hours are long and the stakes are high. Fifty per cent said that they believe judges' decisions are significantly affected by how tired they are, and 57 per cent conceded that tiredness would likely affect their own decisions if they were a criminal court judge. Only three per cent felt they'd do a better job than existing criminal court judges at fighting fatigue to ensure fair and consistent decisions. Sources: YouGov; Legal Cheek