District judges (civil)
6.1 As at 31 March 2003 there were 406 district judges in England and Wales. During the period of this report a competition was held to appoint 15 district judges on the South Eastern, Midland, North Eastern, Northern and Western Circuits. There were 241 applications and 81 candidates were selected for interview.
6.2 As well as the 15 judges appointed immediately, a total of 22 candidates were placed on the reserve list. The Wales & Chester Circuit bid specifically for a Welsh speaking district judge but no suitable candidate was found. A total of 33 unsuccessful candidates received telephone feedback. Full statistics are given below.
Designations to sit in proceedings under the Children Act 1989
6.3 District judges have limited jurisdiction in proceedings under the Children Act, unless specifically authorised by the President of the Family Division to hear a wider range of private or public proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the Family Proceedings (Allocation to Judiciary) (Amendment) Directions 2002. The new private family law authorisation for district judges enabled them to undertake certain aspects of contested private family law work. At the end of the period of this report, there were a total of 62 district judges authorised to hear contested private family law work only, whereas those authorised to hear public law proceedings in addition totalled 295. See also paragraphs 4.12 and 4.13.
District judges of the Principal Registry of the Family Division
6.4 During the period of this report there was no competition for Principal Registry of the Family Division (PRFD) district judges but the Lord Chancellor appointed one PRFD district judge from candidates who had been placed on the reserve list from the competition held in 20012002. As at 31 March 2003 there were 18 PRFD district judges in England and Wales.
Assessment Centre
6.5 Three competitions were piloted through the Assessment Centre. They were deputy district judge (civil), deputy district judge (magistrates' courts) and deputy Queen's Bench masters. Candidates were able to apply for all three competitions providing they were able to demonstrate the respective competencies. Details of the individual competitions follow. Full details of the Assessment Centre are in Chapter 2, paragraphs 2.13 2.22. The competence framework used at the Assessment Centre is at Annex A.
Deputy district judges
6.6 As at 31 March 2003 there were 735 deputy district judges in England and Wales. A competition was held during the period of this report for vacancies on all circuits. 349 applications were received and 127 candidates were short-listed for attendance at the Assessment Centre. 42 candidates were approved for appointment. However, on the Northern and Western Circuits we were unable to identify enough good quality candidates to fill all the vacancies. Full statistics are given below. A total of 56 unsuccessful attendees received telephone feedback.
Deputy district judges of the Principal Registry of the Family Division (PRFD)
6.7 There was no competition during the period of this Report. As at 31 March 2003 there were 28 deputy district judges (PRFD) in England and Wales.
Retired district judges sitting as deputies
6.8 During 2002-2003, 15 district judges sitting in retirement as fee-paid deputy district judges were re-appointed for a further one year term. In addition 6 district judges who retired during this period were appointed as deputies.