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I have already posted in relation to the JAC.

However, it also seems to me that there is a structural problem which means that solicitors are deterred from judicial office. That is the now almost universal requirement that no-one can be appointed as a full-time judge without first serving an apprenticeship as a fee-paid one.

That works for barristers, since most of them are self-employed sole traders who can decide what they do. I can't lay my hands on the current figures, but I suspect these days a majority of solicitors are assistants, associates or salaried partners and can only take a part-time judicial post if their employers are willing to agree. Somehow I doubt that those who employed me as a lowly assistant solicitor would have taken kindly to a request for time off to go and be a judge. Even equity partners may need to negotiate permission to take a judicial role on the side.