Lord McCluskey accuses ministers of interference

Judge attacks process of selecting next Lord President

News, 15 November 2005

A retired Scots judge has accused the Scottish Executive of interfering in the independence of the judiciary by trying to influence high-level legal appointments.

Writing in today's Scotsman, Lord McCluskey said that the selection procedure for the next Lord President is humiliating and that politicians try to pick compliant judges who will follow the administration's political agenda.

Changes to the selection process were put in place by Jack McConnell following Lord Cullen's announcement of his retirement. Formerly the Prime Minister, acting on the advice of the First Minister who in turn would consult the Lord Advocate, would have put forward the name of the preferred candidate to the Queen. Now for the first time a four-person panel, comprising two lay and two legal figures, will consider all applications for suitability.

In the article, Lord McCluskey claims that one leading candidate did not bother applying for the post because of the interview process which includes asking candidates to write an essay entitled "what I would do if I were Lord President", and asking questions such as "what was the last book you read?"

The chairman of the Judicial Appointments Board, Sir Neil McIntosh, who is chairing the panel, said that while the new system was not perfect it had given people who would not normally consider the position the opportunity to apply.

A Scottish Executive spokesperson said ministers totally rejected the accusation of trying to interfere in the independence of the judiciary and that the Executive made no apology for trying to ensure that public appointments were made in an open and transparent way.