§ The Earl of Courtownasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any person who attended the function at the Atlantic Bar and Grill on 7 February, hosted by the Lord Chancellor, has been appointed a Queen's Counsel or a judge since this Government came to power. [HL917]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)The most recent records show that 217 Queen's Counsel and 1,555 judges in the ordinary Courts have been appointed in England and Wales since May 1997. I could not possibly say from my own knowledge how many, if any, attended any particular function, nor, given that such a fact is wholly irrelevant to the question of appointment, would it be appropriate for me to inquire.
§ The Earl of Shrewsburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the guidelines on judicial and Queen's Counsel appointments that are applied to ensure that anyone who is aware of political donations made by candidates for appointment has no part in the appointment process and is excluded from seeing files on applicants. [HL920]
§ The Lord ChancellorNo such guidelines exist. Current guidance makes it clear that the assessment of candidates will be based solely on merit against the criteria for appointment. Neither I nor anyone else involved with the appointment process would 19WA normally know if a candidate for judicial appointment or Queen's Counsel has made a donation to any political party, nor would anyone take such an irrelevant fact into account. Candidates are not asked whether they have made political donations.
§ The Earl of Shrewsburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Lord Chancellor's Special Adviser, Mr Garry Hart, has or has had, any access to files relating to the appointment of Queen's Counsel and judges. [HL921]
§ The Lord ChancellorMr Hart sees papers only to the extent necessary to advise on general policy issues relating to judicial appointments. He is not and has never been involved in any way in decisions about individual judicial appointments.
§ The Earl of Shrewsburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is the practice of the Lord Chancellor to disqualify himself from involvement in any appointment concerning someone whom he knows is a donor to a political party; and [HL922]
Whether the Lord Chancellor has appointed any judges or Queen's Counsel who he was aware at the time were members of the Labour Party or an affiliated organisation, or who had made donations to the Labour Party. [HL923]
§ The Lord ChancellorI do not, in the ordinary course, know if a candidate for judicial appointment is a member of, or has made a donation to, any political party or affiliated organisation, nor, were Ito come to know, would I ever take such a fact into account in considering the question of appointment. Judicial appointments are based solely on merit. The one exception is in relation to the lay magistracy, who are only appointed if they pass a merit threshold, but where Local Advisory Committees also consider political affiliation of candidates, as a proxy for social background, so as to try to achieve lay Benches which are representative of the communities they serve: that has been the longstanding position, under successive governments.