That's why tomorrow's names matter. For judges are the select caste whose decisions affect not only the liberty of specific individuals but the society we all live in. With the European Convention on Human Rights due to be absorbed into British law in October, their power is set to become even greater. They will decide who has the right to life and the right to death, where legitimate scientific research ends and unethical horror begins, what equality and discrimination really mean. That makes now a good time to wonder whether we are choosing the right people for the job - and whether we should begin to see the job a whole new way.
Recruitment is the clearest problem.
It has become a tired complaint that the judiciary looks too little like the nation it is meant to serve. Of the 35 judges on the court of appeal, only one is a woman. The 100 judges of the high court are all white. Defenders of the system say this will all change, eventually. The system is better now, they say.