Judicial appointments report published

Judicial Appointments Board annual report looks for more applications for senior posts

News, 22 September 2005

The third annual report of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland is published today. It covers the year to May 2005.

Set up by the Scottish Executive in 2002 to provide an open and transparent judicial appointment system, the board ran competitions during the year to fill five vacancies in the Court of Session and High Court bench, together with a number of full time and part time sheriffs. All its recommendations were accepted by the First Minister.

Chair of the Board, Sir Neil McIntosh, said: "We have had another busy year in terms of recruitment exercises and, taking into consideration the appointments made since we began our work in 2002, around a third of the current membership of the Scottish judiciary has been appointed following the Board's recommendations.

"Our involvement in so many competitions has meant that we have not been able to devote as much time as we would have liked to advancing our plans to carry out detailed research and development work. However, with the recent appointment of a policy director, we expect to make significant progress on these issues in the coming year.

"Submitting an application to the Board is the only route to judicial appointment in Scotland for all but the two most senior judicial posts, so it is important that potential candidates have confidence in the Board's process. We will continue to explore ways of encouraging those in the legal profession to put their names forward for consideration."

The Board records that there is considerable interest in shrieval appointments, but is "somewhat disappointed" at the relatively small number of candidates for the more senior posts of sheriff principal and senator (judge in the supreme courts).