Judicial Appointments (Hansard, 7 January 2003)

§ Yvette Cooper

Since taking up office in 1997 the Lord Chancellor has introduced many improvements to the judicial appointments process aimed at promoting equality of opportunity and greater diversity within the judiciary, as followsEstablishing the Commission for Judicial Appointments to oversee the procedures and deal with complaints Piloting an assessment centre Removing lower and upper age limits for most appointments Setting up a work shadowing scheme Arranging events about judicial appointments to talk openly about the appointments procedures and encourage applications Publicising criteria and appointments procedures, including on diversity, in booklets, on the LCD website and in a video Publishing the Judicial Appointments annual report since October 1999, which includes statistical information about the appointment of women and people of minority ethnic origin Liasing with the legal profession on diversity issues, for example, through the Joint Working Party on Equal Opportunities in Judicial Appointments Introducing a salaried part-time working facility and flexible part-time sitting arrangements for those who have had career breaks for family reasons Abolishing the system of appointments to the High Court bench by invitation only Involving judicial and lay members in more aspects of the selection process Amending the appointment criteria following recommendations by the Joint Working Party on Equal Opportunities in Judicial Appointments Confirming publicly that homosexuality is not a bar to appointment Confirming that advocacy experience is not a prerequisite for judicial appointment Supporting appraisal and mentoring schemes Improving application and consultation forms and guidance Researching factors that affect (especially) women and ethnic minority lawyers in deciding whether to apply to be judges Opening opportunities to become recorders to blind people.

65W