Working with others

The JAC takes a partnership approach to all of its work. Partnership working is essential to all we do. This section sets out some of our main partners, and how our work relates to theirs.

Our key partners include our sponsoring department the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Tribunals Service and the judiciary.

The Chairman has regular meetings with the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, the Senior President of Tribunals and the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman.

We work very closely with the representative bodies of prospective candidates including the Law Society, the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) and the General Council of the Bar.

We also work closely with groups who represent under-represented candidates such as the Black Solicitors Network, the Society of Asian Lawyers, the Association of Women Solicitors, the Association of Women Barristers, and the Lawyers with Disabilities Division. In addition we maintain contact with members of other professional bodies, other Government Departments and academia. 

We work with partners in a number of ways from engagement on specific selection exercises to cross cutting matters such as diversity. We work with the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Institute of Legal Executives and others to organise joint events for prospective applicants, co-ordinate marketing activity and seek feedback on our work.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
The Ministry of Justice is responsible, among other things, for the overall running our courts and improving the justice system, driving forward the reform and consistent improvement of the legal and justice system in England and Wales.  We recommend one candidate for each judicial vacancy to the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor ask us to reconsider a recommendation or reject it, but he is required to provide his reasons to the Commission. He cannot select an alternative candidate.

The Directorate of Judicial Offices of England and Wales (DJO)
The DJO was created under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. It incorporates the Judicial Office, the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) and the Judicial Communications Office. Under the Act, the Lord Chief Justice became head of the judiciary in England and Wales and is responsible for 40 000 judicial office-holders. The Lord Chief Justice represents the views of the judiciary, maintains appropriate arrangements for their welfare, training and guidance and oversees arrangements for the deployment of judges. 

Judicial Studies Board (JSB)
The JSB, part of the DJO (see above), is directly responsible for training full and part-time judges in England and Wales, and for overseeing the training of magistrates and chairmen and members of tribunals. 

The Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman (JACO)
JACO investigates complaints about the judicial appointments process and the handling of matters involving judicial discipline or conduct. The Ombudsman's office also assumed its responsibilities on 3 April 2006. It is independent of the Government and the judiciary. 

The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland and The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission
We work with our corresponding bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland and have a reciprocal arrangments for advertising some vacancies on their websites and vice versa.

Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC)
The OJC supports the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice in their joint responsibility for the system of judicial complaints and discipline. It seeks to ensure that all judicial disciplinary issues are dealt with consistently, fairly and efficiently. 

Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) and The Tribunals Service
HMCS and The Tribunals Service are executive agencies of the Ministry of Justice. They are JAC's main customers, as they are the organisations on whose behalf we select candidates. Her Majesty's Courts Service's purpose is to deliver justice efficiently and effectively. They administer the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales. This covers the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the magistrates' courts, the county courts and the Probate Service. The Tribunals Service provides administrative support for the tribunals' judiciary who hear cases and decide appeals.

General Council of the Bar
The General Council of the Bar ("Bar Council") is the professional body for barristers in England and Wales, founded in 1894. As the governing body for the Bar its role is to promote and improve the services and functions of the Bar and to represent the interests of the Bar on all matters relating to the profession. We are working closely with the Bar Council to encourage members of the Bar to consider a judicial career and on ways of increasing diversity and widening the pool of eligible candidates that we can select from. 

Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX)
ILEX is the professional body representing around 24,000 qualified and trainee Legal Executives, and is recognised by the Ministry of Justice as one of the three core routes to becoming a qualified lawyer. Its members became eligible for some judicial appointments in 2008. We are working closely with ILEX to ensure its members are aware of judicial opportunities, to encourage them to consider a judicial career and on ways of increasing diversity and widening the pool of eligible candidates that we can select from.  

Law Society
The Law Society is the regulatory and representative body for 116,000 solicitors in England and Wales. It regulates and sets standards for solicitors; represents and supports solicitors; and, seeks to influence law reform to achieve a better system of justice. We are working closely with it and the groups it supports to encourage their members to consider a judicial career and on ways of increasing diversity and widening the pool of eligible candidates that we can select from. 

There are of course many other groups that represent members of the legal and other professions and so we work closely with many other professional bodies and other associations.