12.1 The department has carried forward and developed reforms and policies on a number of aspects of the appointment procedures for judicial office holders, and for their terms and conditions of service, all within a framework which upholds judicial independence. Some of these developments have already been described in chapter 2. This chapter sets out the additional work carried out in support of this framework.
Complaints handling
12.2 In 2002-2003, the Lord Chancellor received a total of 2,278 complaints about members of the judiciary, the majority of which related to judicial decisions and were therefore not a matter for the Lord Chancellor but instead should properly be appealed to the next court, or tribunal, of jurisdiction. Of the remainder, 370 were taken forward for investigation as they related to personal conduct. 276 cases were completed and there were 94 cases outstanding at the end of the year. Of the 276 completed cases there were two in which the Lord Chancellor decided it was necessary to take further action. In both cases this took the form of a formal reprimand from the Lord Chancellor.
The Judicial Correspondence Unit
PO Box 38528
5th Floor,
30 Millbank
London SW1P 4XB
www.dca.gov.uk
12.3 This year also saw the agreement with the judiciary of a Judicial Complaints Protocol , which sets out the agreed procedures for dealing with complaints about members of the judiciary. An earlier version of the protocol was issued in 1998 and was in need of revision. The new complaints protocol has been approved by the Lord Chief Justice and the Judges' Council, and was issued to all judges by Lord Irvine on 22 April 2003. Copies can be obtained from:
Judicial salaries
12.4 Revised judicial salary levels were introduced with effect from 1 April 2003, following the recommendations in a report published in February 2003, by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) an independent body which makes recommendations to the Government about salaries of a number of groups including the judiciary. The SSRB recommended an across-the-board increase of 2.75%, on top of the balance of the 2002 increase due to be paid from 1 April 2003. In addition there was an increase of £10,000 for Group 1 (of which there is just one the Lord Chief Justice). The salaries at 1 April 2003 for some of the main judicial offices are:
| Lord Chief Justice | £200,236 |
| Master of the Rolls | £181,176 |
| Lords of Appeal in Ordinary Vice-Chancellor President of the Family Division |
£175,055 |
| Lords Justices of Appeal | £166,394 |
| High Court Judges | £147,198 |
| Senior Circuit Judges Specialist Circuit Judges |
£119,160 |
| Circuit Judges Senior District Judge of the Family Division |
£110,362 |
| Area/Regional Immigration Adjudicators Members, Lands Tribunals |
£106,195 |
| District Judges (Civil) District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) |
£88,546 |
Judicial pensions
12.5 On appointment, all salaried holders of judicial office automatically become members of the judicial pension scheme. However, membership is not compulsory and a judicial office holder may opt out of the scheme.
12.6 Judicial office holders appointed before 31 March 1995 became members of one of the schemes established under the Judicial Pensions Act 1981. All members of the judiciary initially appointed to judicial office on or after 31 March 1995 are members of the scheme established under the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.
12.7 Staff within Legal and Judicial Services Group deal with all enquiries from those members of the judiciary who sit in courts and tribunals administered by the Department for Constitutional Affairs about the administration of the judicial pension schemes or their own personal position. When pension benefits become payable, on the retirement or death of a judicial office holder, the pension award is calculated and the necessary arrangements are made for payment.
12.8 In December 2001 the department accepted the recommendations of a scoping study that it should act as lead department for all judicial pension policy. Those responsibilities, then shared by the Treasury, Cabinet Office, and a range of other government departments, included the payment of, and accounting for, judicial pensions.
12.9 A dedicated project team was established in January 2002 to take forward all aspects of the transfer of functions and specifically the need for accounting to comply with resource accounting standards and with the requirements of FRS 17 retirement benefits. The Judicial Pensions Scheme is a "multi-employer" scheme, adopted with advice from HM Treasury, which includes judicial office-holders of four departments apart from the Department of Constitutional Affairs: the Justice Department of the Scottish Executive, the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department of Trade and Industry.
12.10 The new judicial pensions administration and accounting arrangements went live on 1 April 2003. During the first month of operation the new systems and procedures have proved robust. Over the coming year we expect to develop further the close relationships we have with the appointing bodies, the National Audit Office and HM Treasury, as well as with our payroll contractors and the providers of the banking and accounting facilities.
Retirements
12.11 50 judicial office-holders within the administrative ambit of the former Lord Chancellor's Department ceased to hold office during 2002-2003. Of that number:
There were also 7 medical retirements. The remaining 35 retirements were either at the request of the judicial office-holder concerned or because he or she had reached his or her compulsory retirement date. They were:
12.12 The department continues to harmonise, as far as possible and appropriate, the terms of appointment and conditions of service for all levels of the judiciary. On appointment, judicial office holders are given details of conditions and terms. Newly appointed judges and full-time members of the judiciary in tribunals administered by the Department for Constitutional Affairs are issued with memoranda that are a comprehensive compendium of the terms of appointment and conditions of service.
Information and communication via the Internet
12.13 Information on matters about the judiciary including details of some competitions, statistics, consultation papers, press notices, events, salary scales and pensions, and Judicial Appointments Annual Reports can be found within the Judges and Q.C.'s section of the departmental website at www.dca.gov.uk.
12.14 Within many competitions an electronic application form and guide can be downloaded from the department's website, and the completed application can be e-mailed to the competition teams. The department's review of application forms and guidance notes has resulted in the production and use of a generic form and guide.
Work shadowing scheme
12.15 The work shadowing scheme has been running successfully since March 1999. The scheme gives lawyers the opportunity to shadow a circuit judge or district judge (civil) for up to five days to find out what it would be like to sit judicially before deciding whether or not to apply for a judicial appointment. Requests for application forms and further information can be obtained from:
12.16 The following chart shows the number of work shadowing applicants during 2002-2003 and in previous years.
12.17 The majority of those participating in the scheme have been solicitors, both during 2002-2003 and cumulatively since its beginning. The proportion of women participating in 2002-2003 was 58%, significantly up on last year's 44%. Overall 44% of all applicants since the beginning of the scheme have been women. The proportion of minority ethnic lawyers was 18%, which was almost three times last year's percentage. This represents 10% of all those participating since the start of the scheme. This year nearly 77% of applicants shadowed district judges (57% cumulatively) and 23% shadowed circuit judges (43% cumulatively). The shift may reflect the suspension of the general circuit bench and recorder competitions. More solicitors appeared to have made use of the scheme to consider the merits of applying for district bench appointment.
The "Judges and Schools" booklet
12.18 Since the launch of this booklet, 4,475 copies have been sent to 885 schools. A Welsh bilingual version of the booklet was launched in February 2003, which has been well received. Work continues within the group on a similar project for magistrates and schools.