This section contains information about the judicial appointments process from application through to appointment, including FAQs and information on policies and procedures.
Judicial Appointments in England and Wales: Policies and Procedures contains details of policies and procedures relating to the judicial appointments processes prior to 3 April 2006. These policies and procedures will continue to apply, unchanged, for the competitions, which have been retained by the Lord Chancellor. Our policies and procedures, including those for consultation, will also apply to the competitions which are ongoing at 3 April and are taken over by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and will also, until further notice, apply to the competitions which commence after 3 April. Information regarding the JAC’s procedures on recommending candidates to the Lord Chancellor for will be available Judicial Appointments Commission website at a later date. In due course, the JAC will introduce its own procedures for Judicial Appointments and information will be published on the JAC website.
This chart provides a summary of the main stages in judicial appointments competitions for appointments up to and including Circuit Judge level. For additional information please refer to Judicial Appointments in England and Wales: Policies and Procedures.
Each competition is assigned to a dedicated team under a competition manager who has responsibility for managing the appointments process for that particular competition.
Before advertising a competition the competition team will confirm the job description and competences to be used in the selection process. Eligibility requirements are checked and terms and conditions of service settled for inclusion in the information packs sent to candidates.
The advert, application form and guidance are quality assured through the Competition Programme Office prior to publication in the media and on the web site.
As part of a continuous improvement programme, we have introduced a special unit to receive applications and answer any questions candidates may have about advertised competitions. The first stages of each competition, except for the High Court, are run by the Judicial Appointments Applications Service (JAAS) where requests for an application pack are handled and applications are received and processed.
Application forms and guidance for each competition can be downloaded from the Judicial Appointments web site, by contacting JAAS or the relevant competition team as appropriate. Application forms can be returned by post or email and will be acknowledged. Initial eligibility checks are completed and details entered onto the appointments database prior to passing applications to the competition team.
For some competitions judges and members of the profession are automatically consulted about each applicants suitability for appointment against the competences or criteria for appointment. They will only make assessments of those candidates about whom they have sufficient recent knowledge of their work/experience. No one person's view about a candidate, whether negative or positive, and however eminent that person may be, is decisive.
For all competitions, applicants are asked to provide the names of between three and six people (nominated consultees) who have recent and substantial knowledge of their work experience in order that they can also be consulted for views as to the applicant's suitability for appointment against the competences for appointment.
For fee paid appointments except Recorders the consultation takes place after the sift and before the interviews, for all other appointments the consultation is completed prior to the sift.
For appointments up to and including the level of Circuit Judge all applications received from applicants will be considered to form a shortlist of candidates who will be asked to attend a formal interview or assessment centre. The sifting panel consists of a serving judge of a relevant jurisdiction, a senior official representing the Department for Constitutional Affairs and a lay person. The panel considers each candidate's application and self-assessment against the competencies for appointment, along with the written assessments received where these have been obtained prior to the sift. Taking into account the number of vacancies for the post concerned, a shortlist of successful candidates for interview is compiled.
Interviews are conducted by the same, or similarly constituted, panels. The panel members make their assessments by asking questions which further test how well each candidate demonstrates the criteria for appointment. The interview therefore provides a further opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate the qualities and skills needed to be a judge.
Each
interview generally lasts about 45 minutes. The structure
and questions asked depend on the appointment. There are
not necessarily right or wrong answers to the majority of
questions asked. The panel members are looking to see whether
the candidate has sound instincts and the right approach
to the sort of problems they might face when sitting. Some
candidates have less actual experience of the particular
jurisdiction than others and allowance is made for that.
After the interview the candidate is rated against each of the competencies. Each member reaches an independent conclusion and then views are discussed and an overall assessment reached. The rating for each candidate takes account of the written assessments made against the competencies as well as the interview.
A one-day assessment centre was piloted in Autumn 2002 as a replacement for the selection interview. The pilot competitions were Deputy District Judge (Civil), Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) and Deputy Queen's Bench Master. The assessment centre tested selected applicants in various exercises - such as role plays and written case studies as well as an interview. The pilot has been evaluated and this approach has been adopted for future Deputy District Judge competitions and has been further piloted in the appointment of Recorders and Fee Paid Chairmen of the Employment Tribunal.
The successful candidates are those who best demonstrate that they meet the criteria during the whole of the selection procedure. First in their application forms, next in the light of the assessments obtained in the consultation process and finally in the interview or an assessment centre. The Lord Chancellor personally considers the applications of each candidate interviewed, before he makes his final decision, which is based on all the information available to him.