1 Introduction
1.1 This is the fifth Judicial Appointments Annual Report covering the existing and developing procedures for judicial appointments and Queen's Counsel. It reports on appointments from competitions within the financial year 2002-2003, and some competitions which finished prior to this but too late to be included in the fourth annual report. The report contains:
Modernising Government a new Department for Constitutional Affairs
1.2 On 12 June 2003, as part of the Government's continuing drive to modernise the constitution and public services, the Prime Minister announced far-reaching reforms, including the creation of a new Department for Constitutional Affairs. This new department incorporates most of the responsibilities of the former Lord Chancellor's Department, and builds on major constitutional reforms carried through by Lord Irvine in his six years as Lord Chancellor.
1.3 As part of a substantial package of further reform, the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor published on 14 July 2003 a series of consultation papers on:
Consultation on a new Judicial Appointments Commission
1.4 The consultation paper on a new way of appointing judges contains:
Appointments in 2002-2003
1.5 This chapter outlines the Lord Chancellor's approach to judicial appointments and briefly notes relevant facts that help to put the other chapters into context. Statistics for competitions held and subsequent appointments appear within the chapters for the main judicial competitions. Annexes contain information on the statutory requirements and functions of the judicial posts and other statistics on the remaining competitions.
1.6 The Lord Chancellor has the responsibility for the appointment, or for advising The Queen on the appointment, of virtually all members of the professional judiciary in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and some office holders whose jurisdiction extends also to Scotland. The most senior appointments are made by The Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, although in these situations too, the advice of the Lord Chancellor is sought. The Lord Chancellor is assisted in this work by the staff of Legal and Judicial Services Group at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, 208 of whom deal specifically with judicial appointments and related matters (as at 31 March 2003). Of these, 140 deal with the competitions for judicial posts and the ensuing appointments, whilst the remaining 68 staff deal with the various policy matters arising in the appointments process. Legal and Judicial Services Group also administers the appointment of certain fee-paid and full-time professional and lay tribunal members, and of lay magistrates (except in the Duchy of Lancaster that is Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, where, for historical reasons, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster makes the appointments), and appointments to Queen's Counsel.
1.7 Legal and Judicial Services Group supported the former Lord Chancellor's Department's strategic objective for 2002-2003, namely:
1.8 One of the former Lord Chancellor's Department's Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs) in 2002-2003 was to:
1.9 This year, once again, the tables containing statistics on appointments also include information about the number of vacancies against which performance of the SDA can be measured. In 2002-2003, 98% of vacancies arising in courts were filled (the only shortfall being in the deputy district judge competitions with 42 out of 48 vacancies filled). For tribunal appointments, 82% of vacancies were filled. This figure does not include vacancies for consultant psychiatrists in the Mental Health Review Tribunal, where due to a national shortage of consultant psychiatrists, a rolling programme of competitions is in operation. Appointment of lay magistrates was 94.7% against the target of 95%.
Ongoing improvements
1.10 Since taking up office in May 1997, the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, introduced an extensive programme of improvements to the judicial appointments system, many aimed at promoting equality of opportunity and greater diversity, and aiding the career development of judicial office holders. Progress on developments in 2002-2003 is set out in chapter 2 of this report.
Judicial training
1.11 The Judicial Studies Board (JSB) is an independent body whose aim is to ensure that the training and learning needs of the judiciary, lay magistracy 1 and judicial officers of tribunals 2 are met in a timely and effective manner. It is funded by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The JSB is chaired by Lord Justice Keene, who succeeded Lord Justice Waller on 1 August 2003, and it operates through five executive committees (criminal, civil, family, magisterial and tribunals committees). Members of the board and its committees include judges, practitioners, academics, lay magistrates and representatives from different tribunals as well as representatives from the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office. The board also has one advisory committee, the Equal Treatment Advisory Committee, which operates four working groups concerned with race and minority ethnic issues, gender and sexual orientation, unrepresented parties and children, and disability.
1.12 The JSB provides a 'core' syllabus of induction and continuation training in criminal, civil and family law. Induction courses in criminal and civil law are attended by all newly appointed recorders, deputy district judges (civil) and deputy district judges (magistrates' courts) before their authorisation by the Lord Chancellor to sit judicially. Family law induction courses are attended by circuit judges, recorders or district judges authorised to hear family law cases, and newly appointed deputy High Court judges assigned to the Family Division. Newly appointed office-holders are normally also required to undertake a period of sitting-in with an experienced judge and a period of supervised sitting and, if they are to hear criminal cases, they must also visit local prisons and meet representatives of the National Probation Service for England and Wales.
1.13 Continuation seminars are attended by full-time and part-time judges in each jurisdiction that they exercise every three years throughout their judicial careers. The JSB also provides specialised seminars, for example, for judges who hear cases involving rape or serious sexual offences or serious fraud, and for mercantile judges and those judges with jurisdiction to try chancery proceedings outside London. When necessary, the JSB provides specialised seminars covering new legislation. It also sets the topic for one-day seminars held on every circuit each year and organised by the presiding judges of the circuit. This year, the topic was the Proceeds of Crime Act. Planning has already started for the judicial training programmes that will be necessary once the Criminal Justice Bill is enacted. Additionally, training is being planned in anticipation of the enactment of the Sexual Offences Bill and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.
1.14 The JSB's programme of seminars for the senior judiciary is now well established, with seminars during 2002-2003 including competition law, sentencing for manslaughter, and recovery of the proceeds of crime.
1.15 There has been a particular emphasis this year upon training for the magistracy, with the publication of a streamlined competence framework for lay magistrates. This is the first part of a revised Magistrates' National Training Initiative (MNTI 2), which was a key recommendation of Sir Robin Auld's Criminal Courts Review and will include schemes for the appraisal and mentoring of lay magistrates. Work is progressing on the supplementary materials and guidance that will form part of MNTI 2, including core training materials and new adult court and family proceedings court bench books, with the aim of phasing in the new scheme during 2004.
1.16 After the publication of the JSB's competence framework for chairmen and members of tribunals this year, work has also been continuing on the development of a framework of training standards, and appraisal and mentoring schemes for judicial office-holders within tribunals. It seems likely that the announcement of a Unified Tribunal Service will bring in its train a requirement for an enhanced level of central support for tribunals' training to be provided by the JSB.
1.17 Information technology continues to be a major focus of the JSB's work, with the development of a core competence framework for the IT skills required by full-time judges, and an ambitious programme of induction and continuation training in computer skills. In addition, the JSB this year produced a CD-ROM on housing law and will shortly be establishing its judicial training website, giving judges on-line access to a wide variety of its training materials.
1.18 The JSB Annual Report 2002-2003 was published in July 2003. For further information contact:
Judicial Studies Board
9th Floor
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QU
Tel: 020 7217 4708
Fax: 020 7217 4779
email
website: www.jsboard.co.uk