Boards swap notes on seeking new judges
12 Mar 07
Judicial appointments bodies still looking to widen field of candidates
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland today hosted a meeting with members of the Judicial Appointments Commissions for England & Wales, and Northern Ireland, to discuss how to widen the range of potential candidates for judicial offices.
The Edinburgh seminar covered such issues as the case for widening the range of applicants, factors which might deter people from applying for judicial office, how to attract applicants from the widest range of good candidates and how to ensure that once applications are received, no particular groups are disadvantaged.
The Board’s chairman, Sir Neil McIntosh, said: “I was delighted to welcome colleagues here to Edinburgh. Today we had a very simulating debate on how best we could attract the widest possible range of good candidates to apply for judicial offices across the UK. I know that each of us will take away a better understanding of the issues.”
The Board’s remit includes a requirement to consider ways of recruiting a judiciary which is as representative as possible of the community it serves.