By Anita Rice


The vast majority of solicitor judges may have been effectively excluded from applying for appointment as specialist senior Chancery circuit judges, the Law Society warned the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) this week.



The eligibility criteria for posts advertised earlier this year - which would be paid £129,900 - appeared to rule out applications from masters and district judges by requiring applicants to have at least Crown Court experience or equivalent. The application pack listed suitable candidates as including circuit judges, recorders and deputy High Court judges.



Gazette research has found similar criteria in another recent competition for senior criminal circuit judges.



Masters and district judges are the only judicial categories where solicitors outnumber barristers. The fear is that by apparently excluding these groups from applying, solicitors - many of whom already feel disadvantaged in seeking judicial appointment compared with barristers - may fare even worse than before.



In a letter to the MoJ, which is responsible for applying the legal requirements for appointments, the Law Society said the criteria seemed more restrictive than necessary. The statutory requirement is for applicants to have held, for at least three years, a full-time position in one of a number of offices listed in the Courts Act 1971 - which includes masters and district judges.



Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: 'This restriction on applications will have a disproportionately adverse impact on solicitors. We fail to understand the reason for this apparent exclusion... which appears to be a significant change in policy since April 2006 when [a similar application pack] included no such restrictions.'



As comparatively high numbers of masters and district judges are women (22%) and from black and minority ethnic backgrounds (3.1%), Mr Hudson also noted that the exclusion of these categories could undermine moves to promote diversity in the judiciary.



An MoJ spokeswoman said it is considering its response. 'In considering eligibility requirements... we take account of a number of factors, including a diverse pool of potential applicants,' she added.