Annual report and statistics
30 June 2009
JAC figures show rise in numbers applying for judicial posts.
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) today published the results of the 24 selection exercises completed between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. They show a steeply increased competition for posts.
There were 3,514 eligible applicants, up from 2,535 in 2007-8, an increase of 40 per cent for fewer posts (449 against 458).
For details please see the full press notice and data available as downloadable PDFs from the menu on the right.
20 February 2009
Recorder Selection Exercise Data Published
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) today published selection exercise data for the 76 Recorder vacancies across the Northern, North Eastern and Wales circuits. It was the first advertisement for Recorder vacancies since 2005, and the JAC received over 420 valid applications - more than five times the number of vacancies.
For details please see the full press notice and data.
6 October 2008
High Court – Record number of women judges
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) today (6 October) published data on seven selection exercises completed since 1 April 2008 including the selection exercise data for the High Court.
Five of the 22 High Court judges recommended for appointment by the JAC this year are women, which will raise the number of women High Court judges to 17, the highest number ever.
Two of the High Court appointments, Sonia Proudman, QC and Elizabeth Slade, QC, will be sworn in this month and the three other women will join the bench over the next year.
Baroness Prashar, Chairman of the JAC said: "I am delighted that we are making progress and that our strenuous efforts are beginning to show results. We expect the composition of the senior judges will gradually come to reflect society more closely."
As we did in April, the tables published today include information on the "eligible pool" of candidates for each post – the number of people who meet the job-specific minimum entry requirements.
The full list of those selection exercise data published is:
00278: Residential Property Tribunal (Wales) 2007
00324: Fee-Paid Legal Members of The Charity Tribunal 2007
00325: Fee-Paid Ordinary Member of The Charity Tribunal 2007
00328: Social Security and Child Support Commissioner-Salaried 2007
00336: Senior Immigration Judge, Asylum and Immigration Tribunal 2007
00337: Designated Immigration Judge for the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal 2007
00351: High Court 2008
For details please see the full press notice and data.
10 July 2008
JAC publishes annual report
The Judicial Appointments Commission is pleased that the Lord Chancellor has accepted and laid before Parliament its second annual report, ‘Selecting on Merit and Encouraging Diversity’. The four sections of the report can be downloaded from the menu to the right of this page.
30 April 2008
JAC's first full year shows encouraging signs on diversity
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) today (30 April) published data on 27 selection exercises completed from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. The JAC received a total of 2535 valid applications and 458 selections were sent to the Lord Chancellor. All of the JAC recommendations were accepted.
Baroness Usha Prashar, Chairman of the JAC, said :
"The overall number of applications received is encouraging and I am pleased that, in our first full year, many women and black and minority ethnic candidates successfully put their names forward."
"We are working closely with the Bar Council, Law Society and other partner organisations to encourage the best possible candidates to apply."
"Some minimum entry requirements can however unintentionally, reduce the diversity of the candidate field. They create an additional barrier. I very much hope there can be changes in this area."
For the further details please see the full press notice and data.
4 July 2007
JAC publishes its annual report
The JAC today publishes its first annual report, 'Committed to Selection on Merit'. The report sets out the JAC's progress in its inaugural year.
During its first year, the JAC has concentrated on:
- the design and implementation of a new selection process including developing a definition of merit
- undertaking extensive activity to reach the widest range of eligible applicants
Also published today in support of the annual report are: aggregate tables showing -
- recommendations arising from the seven completed selection exercises completed in 2006/07
- recommendations for appointments from reserve lists created from selection exercises completed before April 2006 by the then Department of Constitutional Affairs
- recommendations for appointment to the Court of Appeal
The annual report and accompanying statistics are available to download from the right-hand menu of this page. Hard copies and alternative formats of the annual report are available on request by email.
To read the press release that accompanies the publication of the annual report click here .
20 July 2007
Statistics for Circuit Judge Selection Exercise
We publish today the results of the Circuit Judge selection exercise to prepare a list of candidates considered suitable for selection under section 94 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
This exercise was started by the JAC before its new selection processes were published and was therefore conducted using processes inherited from the then DCA with adjustments to take account of the requirements of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Information about the new selection processes published by the JAC in October 2006 is available here. These processes include the introduction of qualifying tests as an alternative assessment method to the previous system of paper-based 'sifts'.
There were serious errors in the administration of this selection exercise. As soon as we realised that errors had occurred we took immediate steps to ensure that no candidate had been disadvantaged. Information is therefore provided about both sifts that were conducted. We have introduced new measures to ensure that similar errors will not occur in the future.
20 June 2007
Statistics for High Court exercise
In line with the commitment made by Baroness Prashar at the JAC's second Constitutional Affairs Select Committee hearing on 20 March 2007, we published the results of our High Court selection exercise on 20 June. The exercise was launched on 31 October 2006, and was the first major selection exercise using the JAC's new processes and selection criteria. A full table of the results for this exercise can be accessed from the right-hand download menu of this page.
They show that the number of applications were comparably higher than for the previous exercise. Commissioners are confident that excellent candidates have been selected on merit.
Statistics are available here.