Are you interested in becoming a district judge?

It was only on my first day on the bench, as a novice assistant recorder nearly 35 years ago, that the importance of the judicial role really hit me. To take decisions deeply affecting one’s fellow citizens, to untangle the evidence, sort out the issues, and reach a good decision, is an awesome responsibility, at whatever level one may be.

Discharging such a responsibility requires skill, dedication, and above all wisdom. We are indeed fortunate in having an outstanding judiciary in this country, but if I may say so, these qualities are particularly in evidence in our district bench, in many ways the beating heart of the justice system. Which is why I would like to draw the attention of potential candidates to the recruitment campaign for district judges which opened this month.

Our tradition of legal excellence means we need to continue to recruit the highest quality candidates to the judiciary. Every year, we seek the best of our legal professionals to join the judiciary. Over the last three years, about 3,000 judges and tribunal members have been appointed.

The Judicial Appointments Commission is currently running a recruitment campaign for 100 new district judges, with vacancies across England and Wales. The work of a district judge is wide-ranging, interesting, and extremely important, involving the full spectrum of civil and family cases, but in some courts there may be opportunities to be more specialised in one or the other.

I know that the skills necessary to be a successful judge are abundant throughout the legal professions. Attracting candidates for judicial office from the widest range of backgrounds is essential to ensuring that we have the highest calibre judiciary. It is also vital to building a bench which is more representative of the society that it serves.

I would particularly like to encourage more solicitors to become judges. I know that there will be many solicitors, and indeed CILEX professionals, with the skills and experience we are seeking in our district judges.

Successful candidates would be joining the bench at an interesting time. In both family and civil jurisdictions, we are expanding mediation to resolve disputes earlier and outside the courts when appropriate and safe to do so. In the family courts, we are also enabling greater flexibility for district judges to run their courts as they see fit by enabling enhanced triaging and gatekeeping of cases before their first hearing. Such measures will allow judges to devote more of their time to considering the cases that really need their attention.

We continue to introduce other changes to deliver more streamlined court processes and reduce the adversarial nature of family court proceedings. In February 2022 we launched the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pathfinder pilot in courts in Dorset and North Wales, which aims to improve the experience and outcomes for children and parents involved in private law proceedings, and particularly those who may need additional support, such as domestic abuse survivors. Much favourable comment has been received, and full evaluation of the pilots is underway. The Family Drug and Alcohol Courts too are gaining support among local authorities, and here the role of the district judge, in an informal setting, is crucial to their success.

The government remains committed to expanding capacity in our courts and tribunals, improving the working environment and maintenance of infrastructure by ensuring the right resources are available across the system. The £220m investment over the next two years for court improvement work announced by the lord chancellor last month is the latest demonstration of that commitment.

My admiration for our judiciary at all levels knows no bounds, but I would particularly like to salute and thank our district bench for the work they do. I very much hope that potential candidates will seriously consider participating in the current recruitment process.

Christopher Bellamy KC is a parliamentary under-secretary of state for justice