Judicial careers open to young

The prospect of lawyers taking up part-time judicial appointments at a young age and progressing up the ranks to the High Court and beyond was raised this week by Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs.

Giving evidence to the Lord Chancellor's Department select committee, Lord Falconer said it was 'time for a fundamental change' in the appointment of judges, which should come through the planned independent judicial appointments commission.

'We need to look very carefully at the career structures of those who become judges,' he said.

'We could have a much wider experience base.'

The commission would have responsibility for laying out judicial career paths as well as the actual appointments, he explained.

While there would 'always be a place' for senior lawyers in their late 40s who decide to pursue a place on the bench, Lord Falconer said he wanted to see more opportunities for younger lawyers to take on part-time deputy district judgeships and then move up the ranks.

He identified women lawyers who return to work after a break for children as one group who would benefit from such a change and broaden the judiciary's experience base.

Meanwhile, Lord Falconer indicated that the proposed supreme court is likely to take the shape of the existing appellate committee of the House of Lords, but with the added jurisdiction over devolution cases currently enjoyed by the Privy Council.

This may mean more judges being appointed.

He said the government is not looking at a US-style Supreme Court, while a European Court of Justice model - where points of principle are decided in the absence of the facts of a case - is 'antithetical to the way our courts operate'.

The other possibility is merging the Privy Council into the supreme court, but he said the supreme court should not handle appeals from Commonwealth countries.

New Zealand and some countries in the Caribbean are seeking to create their own final courts of appeal, but Lord Falconer indicated that the Privy Council will remain as long as Commonwealth countries use it.

The supreme court would receive more resources than the current appellate committee, he said, allowing it to bear comparison with the supreme courts of other countries and 'be a real flagship for the British legal system'.

In 2001/2, 623,548 was spent on running the appellate committee, while 499,000 was recovered in fees, meaning it cost just 124,000.

'This is absolutely tiny in relation to other countries,' Lord Falconer said.

He added that he hoped the legislation to abolish the role of Lord Chancellor would be on the statute books in around 18 months' time.

See Editorial, page 16 (see [2003] Gazette, 3 July)

Neil Rose