*/
Salary and reluctance to make Circuit visits deter potential High Court judges, but the prestige of appointment is still a major draw.
The report, The attractiveness of senior judicial appointment to highly qualified practitioners, published in January and based on interviews with six recently appointed high court judges and 29 highly qualified solicitors and barristers, revealed that the effect of the Circuit requirement was, for some practitioners, “a temporary deterrent to judicial application as children are growing up, while for others it represents a permanent barrier to application”.
Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, in his foreword, said the research reflected “misapprehensions” about judicial life on Circuit—in fact the system for Circuit visits was “extremely flexible” and some High Court judges did not visit a Circuit at all, he said. Although a “wholehearted defender” of the Circuit system, the Lord Chief Justice said that it is possible for arrangements to be made to accommodate judges whose circumstances mean that they cannot be away from home.
Professor Dame Hazel Genn, the report’s author, said: “Judges in post talked of the satisfaction offered by a judicial post, including the opportunity to be the decision-maker, the intellectual challenge, public service ethic, prestige and financial security.
“Practitioners not seeking a salaried judicial appointment said they were deterred by the workload and working conditions, salary, loss of autonomy, a preference for advocacy rather than decision making and a belief that their temperament is more suited to the Bar than the Bench.”
Commissioned by the Judicial Executive Board, the research is separate from current Judicial Appointments Commission research, which is due to complete in the spring. The report is available at www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/report-sen-jud-appt.pdf.
The report, The attractiveness of senior judicial appointment to highly qualified practitioners, published in January and based on interviews with six recently appointed high court judges and 29 highly qualified solicitors and barristers, revealed that the effect of the Circuit requirement was, for some practitioners, “a temporary deterrent to judicial application as children are growing up, while for others it represents a permanent barrier to application”.
Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, in his foreword, said the research reflected “misapprehensions” about judicial life on Circuit—in fact the system for Circuit visits was “extremely flexible” and some High Court judges did not visit a Circuit at all, he said. Although a “wholehearted defender” of the Circuit system, the Lord Chief Justice said that it is possible for arrangements to be made to accommodate judges whose circumstances mean that they cannot be away from home.
Professor Dame Hazel Genn, the report’s author, said: “Judges in post talked of the satisfaction offered by a judicial post, including the opportunity to be the decision-maker, the intellectual challenge, public service ethic, prestige and financial security.
“Practitioners not seeking a salaried judicial appointment said they were deterred by the workload and working conditions, salary, loss of autonomy, a preference for advocacy rather than decision making and a belief that their temperament is more suited to the Bar than the Bench.”
Commissioned by the Judicial Executive Board, the research is separate from current Judicial Appointments Commission research, which is due to complete in the spring. The report is available at www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/report-sen-jud-appt.pdf.
Salary and reluctance to make Circuit visits deter potential High Court judges, but the prestige of appointment is still a major draw.
Making a move from the Bar to a career in governance: Maria Brookes outlines three good reasons to switch and how to do it
Inés Rivera explains how speech recognition can help barristers create accurate documentation faster
What should barristers be doing on the personal finance front ahead of the end of the tax year on 5 April? Julian Morgan of Fleet Street Wealth answers your questions
Are you ready to embark on this arduous but potentially rewarding journey? Julie Gottlieb of Sherwood PSF Consulting provides a self-examination checklist, hints and tips to help you prepare for a future application
Unlocking your aged debt to augment cash flow in one easy step… By Philip N Bristow of Vector Professions Finance
The journey from a small village in Nepal to international law professor and UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights: Admas Habteslasie talks to Surya Subedi QC (Hon)
The Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice, set up to revisit the work of the CCRC after 25 years of operation, identified serious issues that risk miscarriages of justice remaining unidentified or unremedied. By Edward Garnier QC Michelle Nelson QC
Unsparing in his criticism, the former Attorney General reflects on recent events in government and his own experience of being chief legal adviser. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
Making a move from the Bar to a career in governance: Maria Brookes outlines three good reasons to switch and how to do it
Sports coaches will be caught by a change in the law that addresses the disparity in treatment for 16- to 17-year-olds, writes Cameron Brown QC