I came to the office of Lord Chancellor with an open mind about the appointments systems prepared to scrutinise, develop and change the processes where necessary, and to be progressive whilst adhering firmly to the merit principle. Among the developments has been the publication of an Annual Report on Judicial Appointments. This, the fourth report, contains information and statistics on appointments to the professional judiciary, lay magistracy and Queen's Counsel during 2001/2002, and reviews developments over the past year.
To ensure that we continue to select the right people as judges, and to ensure that we continue to have a truly independent judiciary, we must have the most effective selection processes. The difficult decisions that judges make affect peoples' daily lives. Those who are selected for the judiciary must have the courage, good judgement and independence to make those decisions. Our society relies on judges who have intellectual rigour combined with an understanding and appreciation of the world and human frailty to make decisions that few others would wish to make.
The overriding principle for appointment to judicial office remains that people are appointed on merit. In applying this merit principle I also aspire over time to achieve a Bench that is more reflective of society in all its diversity. That does not mean that the judiciary must be "representative" of society so that there is a strict statistical match between the judiciary and the population in general. The profile of the judiciary cannot be changed overnight. But I would expect to see more women and people from minority ethnic communities being appointed as increasing numbers of practitioners from these groups reach the stage in their professional lives where appointment as a judge becomes a real prospect. My officials continue to travel the length and breadth of the country with the aim of de-mystifying the appointments process and encouraging lawyers and members of the public to apply for professional and lay judicial posts. As part of these continuing efforts to increase understanding of the system and boost confidence in it, I have sought to convey information about the appointments process by making better use of the Departmental website and by producing a video which has been distributed widely in the legal profession. I will continue to look at ways to raise awareness of the appointments process.
It is now nearly three years since Sir Leonard Peach published his Report following his scrutiny of the appointment procedures. I am pleased to say that many of his recommendations for reform have been implemented, or are in the advanced stages of implementation. This year's Judicial Appointments Annual Report contains full updates of this important work, but I would like to mention briefly two of the successes since the last Report.
The Commission for Judicial Appointments is now fully established. Sir Colin Campbell, the First Commissioner, was joined in December 2001 by seven new Deputy Commissioners, one of whom is also the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments for Northern Ireland. I was pleased that so many people of such a high calibre chose to apply for these important positions. Those who were selected bring with them a depth of skills, experience, open-mindedness, enthusiasm and fairness. The Commission has published its first Annual Report which provides full details of its work since it was established. The Report's content demonstrates that the Commission provides an independent check on the appointments procedures for both judicial appointments and Silk.
The pilot assessment centre, where candidates will be put through a series of tests instead of the usual interview, is progressing well. Full evaluation of this pilot will take place early in 2003 and the results will be included in next year's Report.
In the past few years we have been through a period of immense change the Human Rights Act and the Civil Procedure Rules are just two areas that come to mind. More change lies ahead of us following reports into the Criminal Justice System and the Tribunal System by Lord Justice Auld and Sir Andrew Leggatt respectively. We now promote change as we endeavour to improve the justice services we provide to the community. Against this pattern of change the judicial role will develop and evolve new responsibilities, new ways of handling the business of the courts for example, through the use of IT and the qualities and skills we seek in our judges will change in response. My commitment to review and develop appointment procedures remains as strong as ever.
The Right Honourable the Lord Irvine of Lairg
October 2002