§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on how many occasions and on what dates since 1969 his Department has reviewed the method of judicial appointments in Northern Ireland; and what steps have been taken to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or community origin. [91537]
§ Mr. VazThe Lord Chancellor assumed responsibility for judicial appointments in Northern Ireland in 1973. Successive Lord Chancellors, including the present Lord Chancellor, have adopted a policy of continuous improvement to the appointments processes, of appointment purely on merit and of ensuring equality of opportunity.
The Lord Chancellor has recently extended his practice of advertising vacancies for judicial office to include the post of High Court Judge and such advertisements include a statement on the Lord Chancellor's equal opportunities policy.
Posts are advertised (in professional journals) and there are job descriptions and detailed objective selection criteria as appropriate. Candidates are assessed against these criteria. Members of selection panels receive written and oral briefing which in particular covers equal opportunity issues.
All these measures support the Lord Chancellor's objective to ensure that judicial appointments procedures are open and transparent.
Appointments to the judiciary and magistracy and safeguards for protecting their independence are also part of the terms of reference of the Review of Criminal Justice currently in train.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will estimate the overall composition of the judiciary in Northern Ireland according to(a) perceived community origin, (b) gender and (c) age. [91538]
§ Mr. VazThe current complement of full-time judicial office-holders in Northern Ireland is 53. The perceived community origin of appointees is not a factor in judicial appointments and so is not recorded as part of the judicial appointments process. Details of gender and age of these postholders are as outlined.
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§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the dates of judicial appointments in Northern Ireland since 1969, in each case describing the perceived community origin of the appointee. [91539]
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 July 1999 Lord Chief Justice — — — — — — 1 — — Lord Justice of Appeal — — — — 1 — 1 — — High Court Judge — — 4 — — — 1 — 1 County Court Judge — 1 — 2 I — 2 3 — District Judge — — — — — 1 1 — — Resident Magistrate 1 1 3 1 1 — 2 2 1 Masters of the Supreme Court — — 2 — — — 1 1 1 Total 1 2 9 3 3 1 9 7 3