Judiciary: judges exert too much influence over appointments to bench, says CJA chief

Solicitors are still not on a level playing field with barristers when it comes to judicial appointments, the chairman of the Commission for Judicial Appointments (CJA) said this week.


Sir Colin Campbell added that he had been shocked to learn that law firms were prohibiting solicitors from applying for judicial office in their employment contracts.


As the CJA published its fifth and final annual report, Sir Colin said that the power of judges to influence the judicial selection process put solicitors at a disadvantage compared to barristers. He said: 'Solicitors are already under pressure from their partners not to apply for judicial office. They also do not have the visibility to the judges that barristers have.


'The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) will have to completely overhaul the process. Otherwise we will be missing out on 110,000 potential applicants.'


The CJA report found that judges are still able to exert too much influence over selection, and they could do so 'late in the day', after fair procedures have been gone through. It said that the process of automatic consultation with the judiciary for applications to the High Court gives an advantage to those who are known to the judges, and should be replaced with structured references and quality feedback. Commissioner Jane Drabble said that too much weight was placed on the views of the selection panel's judicial members.


The CJA will cease to exist next week when its duty to investigate complaints will be inherited by the Judicial Appointments Commission Ombudsman. Sir Colin said that while the appointments system was 'greatly improved' since the CJA was set up in 2001, 'loopholes remain if anyone is determined to meddle with merit-based appointments'.


The JAC takes over identifying candidates for judicial office from the government next week.