UNDERSTANDING JUDGING:
ROLES, SKILLS & CHALLENGES
20-21 April 2013
PROGRAMME
UCL JUDICIAL INSTITUTE
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Understanding Judging: Roles, Skills and Challenges
UCL Judicial Institute
Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, London WC1H 0EG
20-21 April 2013
This is the first and only course available in the UK that offers practitioners the opportunity to gain a
greater understanding of what it means to be a judge.
Who is this course for?
This course is intended for practitioners who currently do not hold a judicial post but who may be
interested in taking on a fee-paid or salaried judicial appointment in the courts and tribunals in the
future. The course is open to all solicitors, barristers, CILEx members, employed lawyers and academics.
Please note that this is not a course that helps practitioners fill in an application form for a judicial appointment or a course that provides practice examinations.
What will I gain from taking this course?
This course examines the range of judicial roles that can be applied for, the generic skills and qualities
needed to be a judge, the key differences between being in legal practice and being a judge, and the
challenges practitioners face when moving from practice into a judicial post. It is designed to enable
practitioners interested in applying for a judicial post to answer two key questions:
• Is a judicial post right for me?
• What is the most appropriate judicial post for me to apply for?
The course will cover:
• Judicial Skills and Competences
• Writing & Delivering Decisions
• Organisation of the Judiciary
• Role & Reality of Judging
• Judicial Ethics: Crossing the Divide from Practice
• Applying for a Judicial Appointment
Topics are taught using a variety of learning approaches:
• Hands-on judicial decision-making sessions
• Small group working
• Panel discussion with experienced judges
• Advance readings
Personnel and Course Structure
• The course is taught only by highly experienced judicial trainers
• One and a half-day weekend course
• Venue: UCL Judicial Institute, Faculty of Laws, University College London (UCL)
Certificate in Judicial Studies
Participants who successfully complete the course are awarded a Certificate in Judicial Studies from the
UCL Judicial Institute.
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UNDERSTANDING JUDGING:
COURSE CONTENT, AIMS & LEARNING OUTCOMES
The Organisation of the Judiciary
Participants will acquire knowledge of jurisdictions and functions of the judiciary in different types of
courts and tribunals.
The Role & Reality of Judging
Participants will gain an understanding of the roles and challenges in performing the judicial role in
different courts and tribunals. This is designed to help participants answer the crucial question: What
type of judicial role is right for me?
Judicial Skills and Competences
Participants will gain an understanding of what are regarded as generic judicial skills and qualities.
Drawing on expert judicial research materials developed by the UCL Judicial Institute and guided by
highly experience judicial trainers, participants will take part in hands-on judicial decision-making
sessions that develop:
• Knowledge of legal principles
• Ability to acquire new knowledge and apply it to novel circumstances
• Analytical ability
• Authority and control of proceedings
• Communication skills
• Essential requisites of fair hearings
• Attentiveness to needs of different kinds of court users
• Questioning skills
• Listening skills
• Note taking
• Structured approach to decision-making (fact-finding, assessing credibility, decision writing)
Judicial Ethics
Participants will gain an appreciation of judicial ethics and the need to act in a way that always contributes to public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. Participants will have the
opportunity to explore scenarios presenting ethical challenges for judges, including:
• Making the transition from practice to bench
• Conflicts of interest
• Propriety
• Independence
• Competence
Applying for a Judicial Appointment
The course will examine key points for those considering applying for a judicial post:
• Am I qualified to apply?
• Understanding what type of judicial post is best suited to you
• Gaining relevant experience before applying
• How to demonstrate competencies
• What the process involves: formal application, examination process, role plays, interview
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PROGRAMME SUMMARY
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DAY 1:SATURDAY 20 APRIL
__________________________________________________________________________________
09:00 – 9:30
Registration
Cissy Chu Common Room (Endsleigh Street Entrance)
9:30– 9:45
Welcome and Plenary
Denys Holland Lecture Theatre
UCL Judicial Institute Directors:
Professor Dame Hazel Genn
Professor Cheryl Thomas
9:45 – 10:15
Understanding the Judiciary
Professor Dame Hazel Genn
Professor Cheryl Thomas
10:15 – 12:45
Small Group Session 1: Judicial Skills & Competences
Seminar Rooms 5, 7, 8, 9
Stage 1: Pre-hearing Review
Stage 2: Oral Hearing
Stage 3: Panel Deliberations
Course Instructors: Godfrey Cole, Yvette Genn, Mary Holmes, Stuart Vernon
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch
14:00 – 15:45
Small Group Session 2: Judicial Skills & Competences
Seminar Room 5, 7, 8, 9
Stage 4: Decision-Writing
Course Instructors: Godfrey Cole, Yvette Genn, Mary Holmes, Stuart Vernon
16:00 – 17:30
Panel Discussion with Judges on Role & Reality of Judging
Denys Holland Lecture Theatre
Mr Justice Gary Hickinbottom, High Court
Her Honour Judge Usha Karu, Inner London Crown Court
Ms Yvette Genn, Recorder, Midlands Circuit
Panel Chair: Stuart Vernon
17:30 - 18:30 4
Drinks reception
Cissy Chu Common Room
__________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 2:SUNDAY 21 APRIL
__________________________________________________________________________________
9:00 – 9:15
Coffee
Cissy Chu Common Room
9:15 – 11:45
Small Group Session 3: Delivering a Decision
Seminar Room 5, 7, 8, 9
Course Instructors: Godfrey Cole, Yvette Genn, Mary Holmes, Stuart Vernon
12:00 – 12:30
Ethical Dilemmas
(interactive, full group session)
Denys Holland Lecture Theatre
Session leader: Professor Cheryl Thomas
12:30 – 12:45
Q & A on Applying for a Judicial Appointment
(interactive, full group session)
Denys Holland Lecture Theatre
Session leader: Professor Dame Hazel Genn
12:45 – 13:00
Presentation of Certificates
13:00
Lunch
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COURSE CONVENORS
Professor Dame Hazel Genn is Dean of UCL Faculty of Laws and Co-director of the UCL Judicial Institute. She
worked with the Judicial Studies Board (now the Judicial College) for 12 years, serving as a member of the Main
Board and the Tribunals Committee, and contributing to the design and delivery of training for the judiciary at all
levels. She has undertaken a number of judicial training needs analyses in England and Scotland and was closely
involved in developing the JSB’s framework of judicial qualities and abilities. She served as a lay Commissioner
on the Judicial Appointments Commission from 2006 to 2012, was a member of the Advisory Panel on Judicial
Diversity 2009-10 and a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life 2003-7.
Professor Cheryl Thomas is Professor of Judicial Studies, Director of the UCL Jury Project and Co-Director of the
UCL Judicial Institute. A specialist in judicial studies, she has conducted ground-breaking research on juries, judicial
decision-making, the role of diversity in the justice system, and the appointment and training of judges. Professor
Thomas serves on the EU Steering Committee for the Project on European Judicial Training. She has served as a
specialist consultant on judicial affairs to the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, Judicial Studies
Board (now the Judicial College), former Commission for Judicial Appointments, Law Commission, Lord Chancellor,
Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, the European
Commission, Council of Europe, and French government.
COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Godfrey Cole was an academic from 1971-1992, mostly at the University of Westminster where he was Dean of the
Law School and he lectured on subjects including Housing Law, Law of Landlord and Tenant, Family Law, and Social
Security Law. In 1992 he took up a full-time judicial appointment as a District Tribunal Judge, and subsequently
sat as a Deputy District Judge and in the Upper Tribunal. From 1999-2008 he was seconded to the Judicial Studies
Board as Director of Training for Tribunals where he developed standards that now apply across UK tribunals, as well
as training courses for court and tribunal judges with management responsibilities. He was the editor of the Tribunals journal until the end of 2009, and he has published frequently as an
academic and as a judge.
Yvette Genn is a barrister at Cloisters, a specialist in employment law (with particular emphasis on discrimination and
equal pay) and personal injury law. She was a member of the JSB’s Equal Treatment Advisory Committee from 19992008, designing and providing diversity training to judges, and continues to provide training in diversity and judicial
standards for judges in courts and tribunals. She has also provided equalities training to a range of public bodies such
as the Legal Services Commission, Council on Tribunals and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Yvette is a Deputy District
Judge on the South Eastern circuit, and a Recorder in civil and private law family matters on the Midland circuit. She is
also a former part-time judge in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND).
Mary Holmes was the Senior Training Adviser to the Judicial Studies Board (JSB, now the Judicial College)
and Head of Tribunal Training between 2002 and 2007. Mary joined the Judicial Studies Board having been an
academic with an interest in administrative justice for a number of years. She was closely involved in the development of the Judicial Studies Board mentoring, training standards, appraisal and evaluation frameworks and
training handbooks. As Senior Training Adviser to the Judicial Studies Board, Mary gave advice and guidance
to the Civil, Family and Equal Treatment Committees in respect of the induction and continuation training for
judges. She was formerly a tribunal member and currently sits as a magistrate.
Stuart Vernon has taken a leading role in writing and producing judicial training materials and has been
involved with tribunal skills training for a number of years. He was involved in the development of the JSB’s
tribunal competence framework, and is currently developing bespoke training courses for tribunals and other
institutions. Stuart was until recently the Chief Adjudicator at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and still works
for the OFT part-time as an adjudicator. He taught at the University of East London, where he researched and
published in the fields of social work law and youth justice. Stuart sat as a magistrate in west London for 15
years and was also a lay member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
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JUDICIAL PANEL
Mr Justice Gary Hickinbottom, High Court Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division
Gary Hickinbottom is a solicitor and became a part time judge in 1994. His time as a judge has been split
between the court and tribunal systems. He was appointed Assistant Recorder in 1994 and Recorder in
1998. From 1994, he was also a part-time adjudicator for the London Traffic and Parking Service, and later the
National Parking Adjudication Service. In 2000, he was appointed a Circuit Judge (and a Deputy High Court
Judge in 2001) assigned to the Wales & Chester Circuit, becoming the resident civil judge in Swansea whilst
also sitting in the Crown Court in South Wales. In 2003, he became a Senior Circuit Judge and was appointed
the Chief Social Security & Child Support Commissioner of Great Britain, adding the post of Chief Pensions
Appeal Commissioner in 2005. Whilst retaining those posts, from 2005-7, he was Designated Civil Judge
for Wales, where he was also the lead Administrative Court and TCC judge, and a judge of the Mercantile
Court. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the Falkland Islands in 2006. In 2007, he became
Deputy Senior President of Tribunals, and in 2008 was appointed the first President of the Administrative
Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal. He was appointed a High Court Judge in 2009 and is currently the
QBD Liaison Judge for the Midland, Wales and Western Circuits. He is also, with Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, the
Senior Liaison Judge for Diversity.
Her Honour Judge Usha Karu, Inner London Crown Court
Her Honour Judge Karu was appointed a Circuit Judge in 2005. She is a Bencher of Middle Temple. She is
the Co-ordinating Judge for Mentoring Recorders for the London area, which is designed to support newly
appointed Recorders by providing them with a judicial mentor. She is one of two Diversity and Community
Relations Judges for Inner London Crown Court, which involves establishing links with the local community
and encouraging students and lawyers, especially from under represented groups, to consider a career in
the judiciary. Her Honour Judge Karu was called to the Bar in 1984 and was a criminal practitioner. She was
appointed Assistant Recorder in 1998 and Recorder in 2000. Whilst continuing to practise at the criminal Bar,
she was one of the first 3 Parking Adjudicators appointed in 1992 for the Parking Appeals Service (as it was then
known, now PATAS) when councils were first given power to enforce parking. She is also a Judicial Member of
First-Tier Tribunal Health, Education and Social Care Chamber (Mental Health,
Restricted Patients Panel).
Ms Yvette Genn, Recorder, Midlands Circuit, member of Cloisters Chambers
Yvette Genn was called to the Bar in 1991. Her judicial pathway commenced in 2004 when she was
appointed as a part time Tribunal Judge in the First Tier Tribunal (HESC) (Special Educational Needs
and Disability). She started sitting in 2005 and continued until 2011, covering hearings on all aspects
of the tribunal’s jurisdiction in various locations across England. In 2008 she became a Deputy District
Judge (DDJ) appointed to South Eastern Circuit. In 2009 she became a Recorder on the Midand Circuit
ticketed to hear civil and private law family matters. Since 2010 she has been ticketed as a DDJ to
hear substantive childrens matters. Yvette maintains a busy court-based employment and personal
injury practice, in addition to her varied training commitments to both professionals in her areas
of specialism and the judiciary. Since 2011 she has become a regular contributor to the training of
European Judges in equality rights at the Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany.
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Increasing Diversity Bursaries
The UCL Judicial Institute has also established an Increasing Diversity Bursary Scheme in which a
minimum of 25% of course participants who (1) would have difficulty paying the course fee and (2)
meet the bursary’s diversity criteria will have their full course fees covered. This Bursary Scheme reflects
the UCL Judicial Institute’s commitment to implementing a key recommendation (no.16) of the Lord
Chancellor’s Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity (Neuberger Panel). Recommendation 16 addressed
what the Neuberger Panel saw as the need for lawyers to get the right experience for judicial office
before they apply. It specifically recommended that courses should be developed to help aspiring
judicial candidates from groups currently under-represented within the judiciary to develop the skills
they need for judicial appointment before they apply for a judicial post.
The Ministry of Justice, Law Society, and CILEx have all very generously funded increasing
Diversity Bursaries for the UCL Judicial Institute’s Understanding Judging course in recognition of the
importance of implementing the Neuberger Panel’s recommendation.
About the UCL Judicial Institute
The UCL Judicial Institute is the first and only centre of excellence for
research and teaching about the judiciary in the UK. The Institute’s
purpose is to provide evidence-based understanding and intellectual
leadership about the judiciary as a critical social institution and the about
the process of judicial decision-making. The Institute carries out cuttingedge research on the judiciary and provides outstanding educational
opportunities for students, practitioners, judges and those performing quasi-judicial roles. The Judicial
Institute is led by co-directors Professor Dame Hazel Genn and Professor Cheryl Thomas and guided by
an Advisory Board of distinguished jurists and scholars from both the United Kingdom and abroad.
For further information on the Institute go to: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/judicial-institute
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TRAVELLING TO UCL
London is well served by transport links. Getting around the city is easy, as is travelling to and from
London from the UK, Europe and the wider world, and for getting around the city. UCL is located in the
Bloomsbury district at the very centre of London.
Travelling to UCL
There are easy connections to UCL from London’s global hub airports at Heathrow, Gatwick and
Stansted and you will find that London’s extensive public transport system is convenient and easy to
use.
To plan your journey to UCL, including walking and cycle routes, visit the Transport for London (TfL)
website. National Rail Enquiries can be contacted on 08457 484950 or at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
London Underground (Tube)
The closest tube stations to UCL’s Gower Street site are Euston Square (Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan and Circle lines), Warren Street (Northern and Victoria lines), Euston (Northern, Victoria and
Overground lines) and Russell Square (Piccadilly line).
Buses
UCL’s Bloomsbury site is served by many TfL bus routes. Buses travelling from north to south stop in
Gower Street, immediately outside UCL’s main gate, while those travelling from south to north stop
outside Warren Street station, about five minutes’ walk from UCL. Services to these stops include route
numbers: 10, 14, 24, 29, 73, 134, 390.
Travelling around the UK
National Rail
London has many mainline rail stations. Most of these are a short journey away from UCL, with the
stations at Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras being within easy walking distance. Trains from London
serve destinations across the UK. The best value tickets are obtained by being flexible and booking well
in advance.
Coaches
Coaches from London operate to most parts of the UK, many offering direct and very economical
services. Details can be obtained from the TfL website.
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WC1H 0EG
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