The Lord Chancellor 'acted inappropriately' in overriding the decision of a selection panel to appoint a senior judge of his choosing, an independent oversight body has said.

The Commission for Judicial Appointments (CJA) found that it had been 'unfair' for Lord Falconer to reject a candidate who had already attained the knowledge and experience set out in the criteria for the post, in favour of one who had the 'potential' to acquire it.


The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) this week confirmed that the report - which did not name the candidate - related to the appointment of Wyn Williams QC as Chancery Circuit judge in Cardiff in 2003. The report does not suggest that Judge Williams was not competent to perform his duties.


The report said: 'Technically it is within the Lord Chancellor's discretion to make such an appointment, but in our experience it is unusual for him to do so without some further dialogue with the selection panel. It is even more unusual, if the outcome of that dialogue is that the panel confirms its original recommendation.'


It continued: 'The information we were given [by Lord Falconer] about [his] decision did not allow us to determine why he found the evidence [of Judge Williams' ability to attract new business to the court] so compelling.' The selection panel had comprised a chairman from the DCA, a senior member of the judiciary and a lay member.


The CJA noted that under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 the Lord Chancellor will not have the power to appoint a candidate who has not been recommended by the Judicial Appointments Commission, although he will be able to reject the commission's preferred candidate or require it to reconsider a recommendation.


A DCA spokesman said: 'We reject [the claim] that Lord Falconer acted inappropriately. Wyn Williams QC was the best-qualified candidate for the post, given the full range of attributes required to attract new business to Cardiff. That has been borne out in his performance.'


Judge Williams declined to comment.