- Judicial Appointments Commission

New Commissioners appointed to the JAC

08 May 2024

The Lord Chancellor today announced the appointment by His Majesty the King of 3 new Commissioners of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) following open competitions.

The new Commissioners are her Honour Judge Angela Rafferty KC, Nicolina Andall and Tom Cross.

The appointments are for a three-year period; Her Honour Judge Angela Rafferty KC commences on 9 June 2024, and the terms of Nicolina Andall and Tom Cross commence on 1 July 2024.

Targeted Outreach programme expands former Commissioner support

09 April 2024

The Targeted Outreach programme relaunched in April 2023 extending support to all legal selection exercises and a rapidly developing Judicial Guide scheme. With increasing demand for Targeted Outreach support, the JAC has carefully considered the programme model.

The Targeted Outreach team expands from April to July 2024 with the addition of five former Commissioners: Jane Furniss, Andrew Kennon, District Judge Mathu Asokan, Brie Stevens-Hoare KC and Sarah Lee.

The new set of former Commissioners have all been chosen for their experience: chairing senior salaried competitions, detailed understanding of the selection exercise processes, excellent outreach experience, and links with JAC target groups.

The JAC is grateful for the ongoing support of the three founding former Commissioners, who continue to focus on senior engagement, outreach activity and senior stakeholder relationships.

Read more about the team here and work of the programme here.

Blog: Qualifying Tests – acting on the evidence

18 March 2024

In a new blog, our Chairman, Helen Pitcher OBE, discusses elements of a two-year research project on the JAC’s qualifying test for large scale recruitment exercises, and how the findings are being used to improve and refine the experience for candidates.

The research was published today and is on our website here.

Appointing judges – even in countries without an independent Appointments Commission – is a complex process. The JAC’s role – set down in statute – is to select candidates solely on merit, after a fair and open competition and to encourage diversity in the range of people available for selection. Over 7,000 candidates applied for a range of judicial roles last year. Potential candidates for these roles are some of the most talented individuals, working in legal practices and courts and tribunals across the country. Given the vital role of the judiciary in society, we are under no illusions about the importance of our recruitment processes and the need for continuous development and improvement in the work we do. This can take a multitude of forms, such as taking particular advantage of technology and refining both our remote and in-person processes to make them as inclusive as possible.

Read more from our Chairman, Helen Pitcher OBE here.

Helen Pitcher OBE

Helen Pitcher was appointed Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission on 1 January 2023.

Helen Pitcher OBE is currently Chairman of the: Criminal Case Review Commission: the Public Chairs Forum and; Advanced Boardroom Excellence Ltd. Ms Pitcher is also a Non-Executive Director at UB UK (part of Yildz Holdings). Prior to this Ms Pitcher was: Chairman of Pladis Global between 2015-19; the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel between 2009-17 and; Director at Saville Group PLC between 2008-13.

The Commission

Members come from a wide background to ensure the Commission has a breadth of knowledge, expertise and independence.

The Chairman of the Commission is a lay member.

Of the 14 other Commissioners:

6 must be judicial members (including 2 tribunal judges)
2 must be professional members (each of which must hold a qualification listed below but must not hold the same qualification as each other)
5 must be lay members
1 must be a non-legally qualified judicial member

The legal qualifications are: