Judges and Magistrates (Election) (Hansard, 1 February 1993)

§ 35. Mr. Skinner
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he will now introduce legislation to elect judges and magistrates.

Mr. John M. Taylor
No. The Government do not consider that elections would provide a suitable basis for appointment or be compatible with the principle of judicial independence.

§ Mr. Skinner
He was quick to do it with the trade union leaders, though. Why is it that judges are seemingly alone in not having been dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world? Instead of simply dressing up in powdered wigs and kinky clothes, why do not judges have to fight for their jobs? Why are they not selected and reselected like Members of Parliament? And why do not the Government clean out the freemasonry? Why, in working-class communities, are there more Tory magistrates than Labour magistrates—even in areas where the Labour vote is three times greater than the Tory vote? The whole thing stinks and it is time that they got rid of patronage, had judges elected and re-elected and made them fight for their jobs.

Mr. Taylor
There is no reason why a judge should not be a freemason—[Interruption.]—or a member of Rotary or Round Table. The judge takes a judicial oath, and that oath will guide him as to his interests in any matter and whether he is qualified to deal with it.
I am anxious to answer the hon. Gentleman fairly and squarely in dealing with the question of the composition of benches and the background to them. It may be useful for him to know that in Derbyshire, his county, the Lord Chancellor is confined to those who offer themselves for appointment in the first place. That is the recruiting ground. To be a magistrate, a candidate should apply. To become a judge, it is necessary first for the candidate to apply for part-time judicial service. So the Lord Chancellor is limited in his recruiting ground to those who offer themselves.

§ Mr. Burns
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is puerile to call for the election of judges and magistrates and that should such an unfortunate development ever occur, it would lead to the politicisation of the judiciary, which would seriously undermine the independence of our justice system?

Mr. Taylor
Our judges and magistrates are, by their oath, independent. There are elections for judges in the United States and I am not sure that the results are always very edifying.

§ Ms. Eagle
Does the Minister feel that if judges were elected, we might end up with a more representative sample of society serving on the bench, including more women, remembering that at present there is a disgracefully low level of women sitting on the bench? Is he aware that that leads to people taking perverse views of the roll of women in society and to some comments that are unfortunate, to say the least, being made in some cases?

Mr. Taylor
The uppermost rule must always be that the best people are chosen, though I share the hon. Lady's view, as does the Lord Chancellor, that there should be more women and more representatives of minorities. The problem at relevant past times in the recruiting grounds in the legal professions was that there were not enough representatives of the right ages of those minorities. But they are joining the legal professions in far greater numbers now, so that shortly, when they move to the age when they will be eligible for appointment, they will be there for promotion. The hon. Lady looks forward to that time and it may surprise her to hear that I do, too.