As a solicitor for over twenty years - and a relatively new commissioner - I’m proud to join lay members, judicial members, and other members from the legal professions as part of the board that steers the work of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in attracting and assessing candidates for a wide range of judicial roles.
The commission’s remit and genuine commitment to broaden judicial diversity inspired me to apply to be a member. We could do more to shout about the fact that we have a statutory, independent body making judicial appointments on merit; it’s a model admired by other countries, some of which are now setting up their own. Recently we saw the announcement of a Judicial Appointments Commission in Ireland, which will be established from 1 January 2025.
I firmly believe appointment must be made on merit and I am a huge advocate for diversity. I want to bring my professional experience, independent mindset and understanding of how it feels on the other side, to encourage, inspire and incite strong applications from candidates from underrepresented groups to take that step.
Solicitors are one of those groups - and my message for solicitors is to encourage you to think about a judicial career earlier in your professional life. As the solicitor commissioner with full responsibility across the JAC remit, I am personally very passionate about this area and creating gateways for solicitors to use to enter the judiciary. It’s easy to see our career path as being to partner or general counsel, not really considering that we have the skills to become a judge. As solicitors, we interact with the end client, we have a good understanding of the problems and sensitivities and almost always come up with practical solutions in a range of situations. Whichever area we work in, we develop an understanding of society and a feel for real life; these are critical skills required to become a judge. Becoming a judge can enhance your career and even provide additional flexibility should you have other focuses in life, for example caring duties for young or old. Being a judge offers excitement, personal development and a new way to use your skills.
Driving greater judicial diversity is a team sport. If we want our judicial benches to better reflect British society, we need to work together with applicants, the professions and the judiciary to prepare talented candidates for these roles. This means people from all backgrounds and ages, including the over-55s. Do note that there are some fantastic schemes to support candidates from underrepresented groups already in place – the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme, the JAC’S Targeted Outreach programme, CILEX Judicial Academy, the Law Society’s Judicial Careers scheme - and I will be doing all I can to highlight these at every opportunity.
If you are thinking about a future judicial application, look ahead at what you will need to do to prove your ‘judge craft’. The route to appointment is a rigorous and highly competitive process and the JAC can only recommend the best, on the basis of merit. You might be assessed as selectable but other candidates may have put forward stronger evidence that puts them higher up the merit list so make sure you prepare well enough in advance to make a really strong application. For barristers, some of what naturally surrounds them at work - conversations in chambers, judges, court time – means it might feel they are following a time-honoured route to judicial appointment – but they equally need to go and seek out the right experience in order to be able to make a strong application. As a solicitor you will likely need to recreate some of those networks and make the most of the brilliant programmes that already exist to support you.
Judicial recruitment uses a competency-based process so you need to have strong evidence and examples that you can use to demonstrate the specific competency. Be strategic - seek out opportunities and different experiences, join panels, get good at demonstrating examples that showcase your skills. Prepare, prepare, prepare…and then go for it.
If you get in first time, then wow! But don’t be put off it you aren’t successful the first time around – many applicants are not. I know it feels horrible, but we have all been there at one time or another - the important part is to try again. Use the rejection as an opportunity to reflect. Seek feedback. Is there a point here? What was missing? Is there something I can do better next time? Do I need to gain additional experience in an area? Don’t be discouraged. Many senior judges will tell you they were initially rejected on a number of occasions - so keep trying.
I’m at the beginning of a three-year term on the JAC board and want to play my part by building greater understanding of how diverse groups feel about judicial appointment, being as clear as we can be about how we can provide support and highlight some of the fantastic initiatives underway.
Finally, I can only urge you to sign up for the Judging Your Future newsletter to learn more about new judicial vacancies. There are also regular pre-application seminars that are led by the Judicial Office (JO) to help people applying for roles, these can be found on the news and updates section of the JO’s website.
If you are now inspired to consider judicial appointment – please take a look at the JAC website.
Nicolina Andall is a commissioner at the Judicial Appointments Commission
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