Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
3.1 On 1 October 2002 The Right Honourable Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe was appointed a lord of appeal in ordinary on the retirement of The Right Honourable Lord Slynn of Hadley.
Lords Justices of Appeal
3.2 During 2002-2003 there were two appointments to the Court of Appeal. The Right Honourable Lord Justice Scott Baker was appointed on 1 October 2002 succeeding The Right Honourable Lord Justice Robert Walker on his appointment as a lord of appeal in ordinary.
3.3 The Maximum Number of Judges Order 2002 , approved by The Queen on 20 November 2002 increased the statutory complement of the Court of Appeal from 35 to 37. The Right Honourable Lady Justice Smith was appointed to one of these new posts on 21 November 2002.
High Court judges
3.4 The then Lord Chancellor invited applications for appointment to the High Court in February 2000. As the 2000 recruitment exercise and associated consultation was only completed in July 2001, the Lord Chancellor decided not to launch a further exercise in 2002 but to make appointments from the list of those identified as appointable in the 2000 exercise.
3.5 However, to ensure that those with appropriate judicial experience, who felt that they had a strong claim for appointment, had an opportunity to be considered, all circuit judges, recorders and deputy High Court judges in May 2002 were invited to submit expressions of interest. 57 such expressions were received and were the subject of consultation with senior judiciary.
3.6 Lord Irvine reserved the right to consult, with a view to appointment, on those who have not made an application. Of the six judges appointed to the High Court in 2002-2003, one was an applicant from the 2000 High Court recruitment exercise and five had been invited to accept appointment.
3.7 The names of those appointed follow together with full statistics of the appointments to the High Court in 2002-2003.
The Honourable Mr Justice Peter Smith 15 April 2002 (succeeding Mr Justice Timothy Walker on his retirement)
The Honourable Mr Justice Treacy
1 October 2002
(succeeding Mr Justice Scott Baker on his appointment to the Court of Appeal)
The Honourable Mr Justice Simon
1 October 2002
(succeeding Mr Justice Garland on his retirement)
The Honourable Mr Justice Royce
21 October 2002
(succeeding Mr Justice Turner on his retirement)
The Honourable Mrs Justice Cox DBE
4 November 2002
(succeeding Lady Justice Smith on her appointment to the Court of Appeal)
The Honourable Mr Justice Fulford
21 November 2002
(succeeding Mr Justice Carnwath on his appointment to the Court of Appeal)
3.8 Feedback interviews were provided for 18 unsuccessful applicants for the High Court 2002 consultation exercise.
Presiding judges
3.9 Of the 13 presiding judges (three for the South Eastern Circuit and two each for the other circuits) two were appointed during 2002-2003. Mrs Justice Rafferty was appointed to the South Eastern Circuit and Mr Justice Andrew Smith was appointed to the North Eastern Circuit, both on 1 January 2003.
Family division liaison and chancery supervising judges
3.10 There are currently seven Family Division liaison judges (one for each circuit except the South Eastern Circuit which has two). There is one Chancery supervising judge who is responsible for the Midland, Western and Wales and Chester Circuits. The Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster is Chancery supervising judge for the Northern and North Eastern Circuits. Mr Justice Lloyd was appointed to this post on 1 October 2002. On 1 October 2002, Mr Justice Coleridge was appointed Family Division liaison judge on the Western Circuit.
International Criminal Court
3.11 In February 2003, Mr Justice Fulford was elected a part-time judge of the International Criminal Court. He was nominated for election after an open competition run jointly by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Part-time judiciary in the High Court
3.12 The Lord Chancellor has the power, under section 9 of the Supreme Court Act 1981, to authorise practitioners, recorders and circuit judges to sit part-time in the High Court. This offers flexibility in listing, support for full-time High Court judges and enables practitioners, recorders and circuit judges to gain experience of sitting in the High Court.
3.13 The arrangements for authorising part-time judiciary to sit in the High Court are currently the subject of a consultation paper "Proposals for the Reform of Recorder and Deputy High Court Judge Tenure " , published in May 2003. Consultation closed on 31 July 2003. The paper is available on the departmental website at www.dca.gov.uk. Whilst these proposals are being considered, the Lord Chancellor is making new appointments only to meet specific urgent business needs.
3.14 As at 31 March 2003, 184 practitioners were authorised, under section 9(4) of the Act, to sit in the High Court. 152 of these were authorised to sit in the Queen's Bench Division and Chancery Division, and 36 in the Family Division. The authorisation to sit in the Queen's Bench Division and Chancery Division is a joint one to provide flexibility in listing, but an invitation to sit will normally be limited to the Queen's Bench Division. The Vice-Chancellor in consultation with the relevant Chancery supervising judge is responsible for seeking an authorisation to sit in the Chancery Division. As some practitioners have authorisations for the Family Division as well as the Queen's Bench and Chancery Divisions, the total figure for each Division does not equal the overall number of authorised practitioners.
3.15 As at 31 March 2003, 16 recorders were authorised, under section 9(1) of the Act, to sit in the Queen's Bench and Chancery Divisions of the Supreme Court. It is one of the proposals in the recently issued consultation paper that recorders have the opportunity to express interest in sitting in the High Court under section 9(1).
3.16 As at 31 March 2003, 253 circuit judges were authorised to sit in the High Court, 171 in the Queen's Bench (of which 31 were authorised to sit in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division) and Chancery Divisions, and 142 in the Family Division. Some judges are authorised to sit in all three divisions of the High Court.
Retired Law Lords and Supreme Court judges authorised under section 9(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1981
3.17 At 31 March 2003, eight retired judges were authorised to sit in the Court of Appeal Civil Division and 11 were authorised to sit in the Criminal Division. Ten retired judges were authorised to sit in the High Court and nine retired judges were authorised to sit in the Crown Court.