Judicial Appointments Commission

The Commission for Judicial Appointments has been superseded by the Judicial Appointments Commission. Future appointments will be made by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, chaired by Baroness Usha Prashar, consisting of 15 lay people and lawyers, although for a transitional period up to July 2007 the Lord Chancellor will continue to make senior appointments. In the CJA’s final report, its chairman, Sir Colin Campbell, said that the JAC opens up the judicial appointments system to public scrutiny, and separates the roles of the executive and the judiciary addressing once and for all concerns about political patronage. However, solicitors are still not on a level of playing field with barristers when it comes to judicial appointments and unless the system is completely overhauled, it will miss out on some 110,000 potential applicants. Two of the problems are that law firms are prohibiting solicitors from applying for judicial office in their employment contracts and that solicitors do not have the visibility of barristers to the judges who have a powerful influence in the judicial selection process. The process of automatic consultation with the judiciary for applications to the High Court gives an advantage to those who are known to the judges, and should be replaced with structured references and quality feedback. Commissioner Jane Drabble said that too much weight was placed on the views of the selection panel’s judicial members.