BOARD MEETING
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON
MONDAY 14th July at 10:00AM
IN ROOM G33, 38-39 DRUMSHEUGH GARDENS
Present:
Sir Muir Russell
Dr Michael Ewart
Mrs Alison Mitchell
Professor Andrew Coyle
Rt Hon Lady Dorrian
Sheriff David Mackie
Mr James McNeill QC
Mr Martin McAllister
Apologies:
Ms Jeane Freeman
Sheriff Principal Pyle
In attendance:
Mr Michael Garden, Chief Executive
Miss Kerry Love, Secretary to the Board
Mrs Dorothy Smith, Policy Officer
1.
Welcome and Apologies
1.1
The Chairing Member welcomed the Board Members to the meeting.
Apologies were received from Ms Freeman and Sheriff Principal Pyle.
2.
Minutes of the 9th June Board Meeting
2.1
The minutes of the Board Meeting of 9th June 2014 were approved by the
Board.
3.
Matters arising from the minutes
3.1
The Chief Executive informed the Board that the amendment to the Courts
Reform Bill to provide the Board with a power to co-opt members had been
approved. The amendment provided statutory provision to allow the Board to
establish a pool of individuals (known as Assistants), who are not court or tribunal
judges who might be legally qualified or lay, from which it can establish or
supplement panels for the sifting, assessment and interviewing of applicants for
Offices within the scope of the Board’s remit, as amended by the Tribunals
(Scotland) Act.
3.2
Mr Garden informed the Board that Mrs Smith would be attending the first
Appointments Work Stream meeting of the Tribunals Implementation Project later
that week and would feedback to the Board at its next meeting.
3.3
The Chairing Member reminded the Board that both members of the Tribunal
Working Group would be demitting office later this year. The Board agreed that the
Chairing Member would replace Mr McAllister and either of the new Members who
succeed him or Professor Coyle might join the Group.
3.4
Mr Garden informed the Board that the signed warrants had been received for
the recent Sheriff and Sheriff Principal recommendations. The Land Court
recommendation was still with the Scottish Government for submission to the First
Minister.
3.5
Mrs Smith informed the Board that Scottish Government Procurement had
written to the Chief Executive of Civic Computing Ltd proposing that they pay for any
replacement online application provided by another company. A response was
awaited.
3.6
The Chairing Member reminded Members to send any amendments to their
entry in the Register of Interests to the Secretariat as soon as possible.
4.
Chairman and Chief Executive Updates
4.1
The Chairing Member informed the Board that he and Dr Ewart had accepted
an extension to their appointments on the Board, and it would be announced in due
course.
4.2
The Chairing Member informed the Board that the recruitment timetable to
replace Mr McAllister and Professor Coyle was almost final and that the interviews
are scheduled to take place in November/early December 2014. The Board noted
that this was not ideal given that Mr McAllister’s appointment would expire in August
2014. The Board agreed that the Chairing Member should write to the Director for
Justice in Scottish Government to draw to his attention to the delays in
commencement of the recruitment exercise.
Action point: Chairing Member to write to The Director for Justice to draw to
his attention the delays in commencement of the recruitment exercise to
replace Mr McAllister and Professor Coyle.
4.3
The Chairing Member informed the Board that he and Mr Garden had met
with Professor Alan Paterson, who was representing The Society of Legal Scholars
as Chair of their Judicial Appointments Committee. He wished to discuss the ways
in which academic lawyers can meet the criteria for judicial appointments and what
career paths they should consider. There was no specific follow up action for the
Board, and further contact from Professor Paterson was expected.
4.4
Mr Garden informed the Board that he and Miss Love had attended a
catch- up meeting with officials from the Board’s sponsor team in the Scottish
Government. They would like the Board to advise them of the timescales for
recruiting the two additional Board Members.
4.5
The Chief Executive said that the Board that the Board’s offices were
currently scheduled to move to Thistle House, Edinburgh, on 22nd August 2014.
Tabled Item
Mr Garden informed the Board that it had been invited to consider a request from
Scottish Ministers for an individual to be appointed to a floating post in the Office of
Sheriff in Greenock and Dumbarton Sheriff Court. In line with its policy the Board
agreed to invite expressions of interest from all members of the Selectable Group
before agreeing who should be recommended, and to seek to agree the
recommendation in correspondence.
Action point: Miss Love to invite expressions of interest from all members of
the Selectable Group and report back to the Board by e-mail.
5.
Diversity Steering Group (DSG): Remit and Diversity Conference
Outcome Report (JABS 2014 39)
5.1
The Board discussed the draft Conference Outcome Report, the DSG paper
on the revised remit and framework, the proposed approach to maintaining
momentum in advancing the diversity agenda and noted the minutes of the DSG
meeting on 8th July. Following discussion the Board agreed that the Chairing
Member would formally write to the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, the Lord
President, the President of the Law Society and the Director for Justice in Scottish
Government, to seek their views on the key themes from Conference Outcome
Report and the proposed revised remit.
Action point: Mrs Smith to prepare letters to the Dean of the Faculty of
Advocates, the Lord President, the President of the Law Society and the
Director for Justice in Scottish Government seeking their views on the key
themes from Conference Outcome Report and proposed revised remit.
6.
Office of Chair of the Land Court 2014: Diversity Stats (JABS 2014 40)
6.1
The Board noted the report.
7.
Office of Summary Sheriff: Draft Appointment Timetable and
Appointments Process (JABS 2014 41)
7.1
The Board discussed the draft timetable and appointments process for the
first summary sheriff competition. The Board was concerned that it was a large
undertaking to commit to running an appointment round every year for the next 10
years to recruit only 6 people per year. It agreed a single competition would be run
for the first exercise to allow the Board to learn from it, and then review and improve
its processes if necessary. Following that the Board would wish to form a Group of
Selectable Applicants as it does for Sheriff appointment rounds: at this stage the
Board envisaged that lifetime of Selectable Groups should be in excess of a year
and that it would aim to run an appointment round every 18 months to two years.
7.2
The Board agreed the timetable and asked that Mr Garden feed back to The
Judicial Office for Scotland that the Board was keen to receive a job description for
the role as soon as possible so that it can begin to understand the differences in the
role and what the criteria might look like; and that the Board is interested in
considering recruitment by Sheriffdom. Members of the Board would share this
approach with the Lord President when they meet with him in the autumn.
Action point: Mr Garden to feedback to The Judicial Office for Scotland that
the Board is keen to receive a job description for the role as soon as possible
and also that the Board are interested in recruiting by Sheriffdom.
Action point: Miss Love to trawl members for their availability for Interview
Panels.
8.
Applicant 108: Complaint Correspondence and Determination
(JABS 2014 42)
8.1
The Board discussed and accepted the Determination of the Complaint
Committee and agreed that it should be sent to the applicant.
Action point: Miss Love to finalise the report and prepare a covering letter for
approval.
9.
Consultation on Justice of the Peace Training (JABS 2014 43)
9.1
The Board considered the Consultation and agreed not to comment on the
proposals as it is not responsible for the appointment of Justices of the Peace.
10.
Forward Look (JABS 2014 10)
10.1 The Board noted the Forward Look detailing for the forthcoming business to
the end of 2015. Members were reminded that the monthly Board Meeting would
move to the 3rd Monday of the month from October 2014.
11.
Any other Business
11.1 Mr Garden informed the Board that in producing the 3 year appointment plan
the Secretariat had been considering when to recruit the new member of staff, the
two new Board Members and the Assistants. The Board agreed the proposed
timings and asked the Secretariat to explore with Scottish Government if it would
consider commencing a recruiting campaign for the two new Board Members in
advance of the co-opting power coming into force in February 2015.
Action point: Mrs Smith to explore with SG if it would consider commencing a
recruiting campaign for the two new Board Members in advance of the
co-opting power coming into force in February 2015.
11.2 The Chairing Member noted that this was Mr McAllister’s last Board Meeting
before demitting office. He noted that Mr McAllister was currently the longest serving
Board Member having been appointed in September 2008; Mr McAllister had
completed a huge amount of work for the Board, and his practical approach had
been greatly appreciated along with his ability to view the Board’s processes from
the applicant’s perspective. The Board thanked Mr McAllister for all the support he
had given, and wished him well for the future.
The meeting finished at 12.05.