Mrs Blair to head law bias inquiry

Cherie Booth, one of the country's most senior female barristers and wife of the Prime Minister, is to head an inquiry into sexism in the criminal justice system.

The wide-ranging investigation will cover all aspects of the criminal justice system from the appointment of female judges to the treatment of rape victims in court. It will also include the growing number of women being sent to prison.

The special commission on women and the criminal justice system has been set up by the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for greater equality for women in Britain. It will be officially launched tomorrow by Ms Booth, a feminist and campaigner for women's rights, while she is at the Labour Party conference in Blackpool where she is accompanying her husband.

Ms Booth's decision to spearhead a campaign likely to criticise the criminal justice system will provide her enemies with further ammunition that her role has become too politicised.

Campaigners for equality have already attacked senior figures in the judiciary including the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, for failing to carry out adequate reforms. Lord Irvine introduced Tony Blair to his future wife.

At present, there are only nine female senior judges, including those in the High Court and Court of Appeal, compared with 136 men. Only 12 of the 113 new QCs appointed this year were women.

There is also concern about the growing number of women sentenced to jail terms. The female prison population has almost doubled over the past six years.

Martin Narey, the head of the Prison Service, has already told judges to find alternatives to jailing women as the number of women in prison reached a record high of more than 4,000. At least three men's prisons have already been converted to accommodate the surge in the number of female inmates.

Ms Booth, a leading human rights barrister and part-time judge, has already attacked the Government for failing to end discrimination against female barristers and publicly called for fewer people to be jailed. Earlier this year, she said the law remained a "very family-unfriendly" profession, revealing that she had received no maternity pay when her first two children were born.

Her views have been echoed by the Association of Women Barristers which accused the legal profession of running an "old boys' club" which discriminates against women who want to balance their career with a family life.

In July, this year Ms Booth said that fewer people should be jailed to lessen pressure on the prison system after conducting her own research into the problem.

The new inquiry is also expected to look at how gender affects the treatment of victims of crime by judges, magistrates and jurors.

Helena Kennedy QC, the Labour peer and close friend of the Blairs, has already aroused controversy by saying that women jurors are tougher than men on female victims of rape.

The leading human rights lawyer has claimed that older generations of women in particular are less sympathetic when sitting on rape trial juries.

"Women are often very hard on their own sex," she said. "Sometimes, if women are being tough, then men defer to women. They [women] take the lead on the discussions and are very tough on women."