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02 July 2008
JAC responds to the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman Annual Report -

The JAC welcomes the Ombudsman's valuable report.

We are pleased that the level of complaints he has received on judicial appointments is so low. During the period of the report we handled applications from more than 2,500 candidates for judicial office and he received only 21 complaints.

No complaints against the Judicial Appointments Commission were upheld. Of the 21 complaints to JACO, 20 were not upheld. Only one part of one claim was upheld, and that complaint was in relation to an older exercise not conducted by the JAC.

Judicial appointment selection exercises frequently attract large numbers of high quality candidates. Of the 27 completed exercises last year there were 2,535 applicants, 931 were shortlisted, and 458 selections were sent to the Lord Chancellor.

Sir John recognises that this process will lead to disappointment for most applicants. As he says: unsuccessful applications [for judicial appointments] are nearly always due to the strength of the competition and are not the result of unfairness in the process.

Sir John also acknowledges how far the JAC goes to make sure selections are fair, saying: I know the JAC goes to a great deal of trouble to try to set out in as much detail as possible how the process will work for each selection exercise and the standards against which candidates will be measured.

Please click here (or on the link above) to see the report in full.

16 June 2008
JAC evidence to the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (PDF 0.09Mb, 15 pages) -

The JAC has submitted a paper in response to the Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill's call for evidence. This document can now be downloaded here. It responds only to those proposals which deal with the arrangements for making judicial appointments.

This paper builds on the views expressed in our response in January 2008 to the Government's consultation paper on judicial appointments.

04 June 2008
JAC gives evidence -

The Judicial Appointments Commission gave evidence to a parliamentary select committee on Wednesday 4th June.

JAC Chairman Baroness Usha Prashar and Commissioners Professor Dame Hazel Genn DBE, QC and Mr Jonathan Sumption OBE, QC spoke to the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill.

Minutes of the evidence can be seen -on the parliament website- by clicking the link above.

30 April 2008
JAC publishes data on 27 selection exercises completed from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 -

The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) today 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.

The selection exercises include recruitment for the High Court, members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal and District Judges. Selections include both legal and non-legal posts. Each exercise had its own minimum entry requirements.

24 April 2008
Ministry of Justice announces process for appointment of new Lord Chief Justice -

The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) has been asked by Jack Straw, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice to appoint a selection panel for the appointment of the new Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

The selection panel will consist of four members including Sir Anthony Clarke (Master of Rolls), our Chairman Baroness Prashar, Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Inkin and Lord Bingham as Chair. The appointment process is likely to be completed by late June or early July and the next Lord Chief Justice will take up the position on 1 October 2008.

17 January 2008
The JAC Response to the Government's Consultation Paper on Judicial Appointments (PDF 0.08Mb, 18 pages) -

The Commission welcomes this opportunity to set out its views on the important issues of independence, responsibility and accountability raised by the Consultation Paper and on ways in which both legislative and management changes would enable it to provide a better service without compromising the quality of its selection processes

28 July 2006
Judicial diversity strategy: measures of success (PDF 0.02Mb, 2 pages) -
News bulletin - on Friday 28 July we published the measures against which the progress of the joint strategy to promote diversity in the judiciary will be monitored. The measures were issued following a trilateral meeting between Baroness Prashar, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice.

18 July 2006
(PDF 0.00Mb, 7 pages)

17 May 2006
(PDF 0.00Mb, 7 pages)