Judiciary (Hansard, 18 April 1991)

§ The Attorney-General

The Courts and Legal Services Act was considered and approved by both Houses prior to receiving Royal Assent on 1 November 1990. Section 71 and schedule 10 of that Act revised the qualifications for appointment to all levels of the judiciary. The new arrangements, which have effect from 1 January 1991, mean that higher judicial appointments are now open to solicitors as well as barristers who obtain the required qualifications, and posts are open generally to those who obtain the required rights of audience before the courts whether they are solicitors, barristers or otherwise qualified. My noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor has no plans to change the qualifications for judicial appointment again in the near future. In addition, to ensure a well-qualified judiciary, appointments to part-time posts are normally made from candidates with standing and experience in the relevant field of law. In 221W making or recommending appointments to a full-time judicial post the Lord Chancellor normally requires the candidate to have served in a similar post in a part-time capacity. Both before and during this part-time service the Lord Chancellor assesses the candidate's work and abilities to establish his or her competence and suitability for judicial posts.

The training of newly appointed judicial officers and the provisions of continued judicial studies for the experienced judiciary is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board. Originally the training provided by the board was confined to the criminal field but in recent years its role has been extended to cover judicial studies in the civil and family jurisdictions and also the stipendiary magistrates and certain legal chairmen and members of tribunals.

In addition to its regular programme of induction courses and refresher seminars the board organises training in respect of new legislation, such as the Children Act and on specialist subjects such as fraud.

Despite the fact that the volume and range of training provided by the board has already increased significantly improvements will continue to be made. The content and format of seminars will be reviewed regularly as will the range of topics covered. The publications produced by the board are also being revised and consideration is being given to issuing further volumes and other material such as video or audio tapes.

The board and the four committees have produced a strategy document to cover the next five years. It will be included in the Judicial Studies Board report which will be published during autumn 1991.