The Judicial Appointments Commission has been ordered by an employment tribunal to disclose candidate material in a discrimination claim brought by a solicitor whose application to the deputy High Court bench was unsuccessful. The requirement appears in a judgment published this week following a preliminary hearing.
Solicitor Ashok Ghosh, who is a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal chair, is claiming direct and indirect race discrimination arising out of a deputy High Court judge recruitment exercise conducted last year.
The employment tribunal judgment sets out details of how the recruitment exercise was carried out. The first stage was a name-blind paper sift based on candidates’ applications and referee documents. Judicial and lay panel members scored candidates on legal and judicial skills, personal qualities and working effectively: ‘A’ was an outstanding candidate, ‘B’ was a strong candidate, ‘C’ was a selectable candidate, D was a candidate not presently selectable.
Ghosh, whose application was assessed by Yvette Long, a lay panel member, and Martin Chamberlain, a High Court judge, received an overall grade of C. ‘How and why they reached this decision is at the heart of this dispute,’ tribunal judge Emma Burns said.
According to the judgment, Ghosh claims that Long would have scored him more favourably, but was persuaded by Chamberlain to lower her scores. Ghosh did not progress to the next stage of the recruitment process.
As the tribunal hearing progressed, claims against individual respondents were withdrawn. However, Ghosh argued that Chamberlain was acting as an agent of the commission and as such could be held personally liable for his conduct.
A seven-day hearing will take place in November.
Burns ordered the commission to disclose the application, referee and sift panel forms for 20 candidates who went on to the next stage of the recruitment process. The commission must also provide anonymised material of 66 candidates assessed by the sift panel showing whether the candidate was a barrister or solicitor, a QC at the time of the application, a magic circle partner, had previous judicial experience, and whether solicitors’ applications revealed experience of advocacy.
Ghosh, who is a partner in banking and finance at Excello Law, represented himself at last month's preliminary hearing. Benjamin Cooper KC and Robert Moretto appeared for the respondents.
A spokesperson for the JAC told the Gazette: ‘This was an employment tribunal preliminary hearing concerning an ongoing case. The tribunal ruled that the confidentiality of other candidates will be protected. The JAC and the individual respondent will defend the tribunal claim.’
