Lammy hikes JAC chair's salary by 30%

The Ministry of Justice is raising the salary for the next chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission by 30% ‘to better reflect the demands of the role’, justice secretary David Lammy has confirmed in a letter to MPs.

Helen Pitcher – who quit the Criminal Cases Review Commission after claiming she was ‘scapegoated’ over the Andrew Malkinson case – stepped down as JAC chair at the end of her three-year tenure last month.

The ministry started searching for Pitcher’s successor last August. However, in a letter to the House of Commons justice select committee, Lammy decided the recruitment exercise should be relaunched to attract the ‘widest field of applicants for this vital role in overseeing the selection of our judiciary’.

As well as revisiting the job description and role criteria to attract a ‘stronger field’ of candidates, Lammy said he had secured agreement from the Treasury to increase the daily pay from £577 to £750 ‘to better reflect the demands of the role’. Recruitment consultants have also been engaged.

The campaign will be launched again this month, with applications sifted next month and interviews in March. JAC vice-chair Lord Justice Warby will lead the commission until a new chair is appointed, with lay commissioners carrying out chair duties that would be inappropriate for Warby, as a judicial commissioner, to undertake.

The new job spec states that the new chair must be a lay member with a personal communication style ‘that demonstrates authority, integrity, discretion, trust and humility’ and knowledge or understanding of making senior appointments on merit ‘with an appreciation of the need for diversity alongside the value of outreach and technology’.