The Judiciary
Types of Judges
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Superior Judges: The Justices of the Supreme Court, The Lord
Justices of Appeal , High Court Judges who sit in the 3 divisions of
The High Court, The Judges from the Queen’s Bench.
Inferior Judges: The Circuit Judges , The recorders who are also part
time judges, District Judges, District Judges(Magistrates’ Court).
Qualifications :According to The Court and Legal Services Act 1990
Academic Lawyers were allowed to become judges, solicitors
could become Circuit Judges and Circuit Judges could become
High Court Judges. The Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007
again gave impetus to widen the pool of judges. With necessary
relevant Legal qualification any one could apply to be a judge.
Fellows of Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) and
Registered Patents Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys may apply
for certain lower level posts
Qualifications & Experience
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According to the Act of 2007: activities such as acting as an arbitrator, mediator,
advising on law or drafting legal documents are also methods by which an
applicant can gain experience in law.
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It reduces the time that a person has to work in law before they can apply to
become a Judge.
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Earlier it was a minimum of 7 years of experience for lower level posts & 10 years
for senior posts. Now it has been reduced to 5 years and 7 years respectively.
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This was to widen the vast pool of talented and deserving Judges to make the
composition of the bench a wider cross section of society.
Selection of Judges
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The Lord Chancellor world earlier have the last say in the matter of selections of Judges.
But his post was a political one.
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Whenever there arose vacancy for a Judicial position in the House of Lords, the Courts
a of appeal , or the high Court, The Lord Chancellor would pick from his list of suitable
candidates. The system was extremely secretive. And was touted to be politically
motivated.
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So now the recruitment is administered by the Judicial Appointments Commission. The
selection of judges for the lower courts is now completely separate from government &
executive.
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The Lord Chancellor is still nominally involved in the appointment to the High Courts, the
Supreme Courts and Court of Appeals.
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The Crime & Courts Act 2a013aaaaa transferred the Lord Chancellors' power in respect
of all judges below the High Court to the Lord Chief Justice.
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The Senior President of Tribunals has the power to appoint judges for the First-tier &
Upper Tribunals.
Justices of the new Supreme Court
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The existing House of Lords Judges became Justices of the Supreme
Court.
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The judges of this court area selected according to the Constitutional
Reform Act 2005.
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So whenever there is a vacancy , the Office of the President of the Court
must convene a Supreme Court selection commission.
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The commission will decide on the selection process to be used.
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The selection will be reported to the Lord Chancellor.
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The Lord Chancellor will then Notify the Prime Minister who will
recommend to the Queen .
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The Queen then formally makes the appointment.
The Judicial Appointment Commission
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All other appointments were made by this commission [Under the
Constitutional Reform Act]
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The key features are -:
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Appointments are made solely on merit
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The commission is responsible for assessing the merit of a candidate
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No candidate can be appointed with out the commission
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The Lord Chancellor has limited powers in relation to each
recommendation for appointment for superior judges
Judicial Qualities
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The judge should have good intellectual capacity
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Should have a good character with great personal characteristics
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Should be authoritative as well as efficient in his work
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Must have good communication skills
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The judge should not have criminal conviction. (the only offence is for
minor Motoring offences )
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Once the candidate is selected , then the appointment is made by the
Queen for all Judicial posts
Judicial roles
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The work a Judge does depends on the level of Court in which they
work
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The roles are divided into 4 parts -:
1. Justices of Supreme Court
2. Lord justices of Appeal
3. High Court Judges
4. Inferior Judges
The Judges of The Supreme Court hear about 70 cases a year . A case is
heard in the supreme court only if a point of law is involved.(To make a
decision the Judges of the supreme court have to sit in an uneven –
number panel. A minimum of 3 judges are required.
The judges of Courts
Lord Justices of
Appeal
In a year they hear about 1500
criminal appeals and 3000 civil
appeals .
The Court of Appeal usually sit
in Panels of 3 to discuss cases .
And 5 if it is an import case.
The workload of the court of
appeal is large . Often High
court judges are used to form
part of the panel
High Court Judges
Each Judge of the high court
will be assigned to a division .
There are 73 judges in the
Queens Bench Division .18 in
the Chancery Division ad 19 in
the Family Division .
The work of these judges is to try
cases and help in appellate
Court and hear Criminal cases.
Inferior Judges
These are the Circuit Judges
that sit in the County court to
hear civil cases . They do not sit
an jury for a civil case but for a
criminal case they do.
They also deal with small claims
and other matters.
Thank you
YOURS SINCERELY -: RISHI SHETTY