JAC not to blame for judge shortages

The head of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) has hit back at claims that her organisation is to blame for the severe shortage of circuit judges and delays in trials.

Baroness Prashar told The Times that the JAC put forward a shortlist of 102 names to be circuit judges, including 47 recommendations for immediate vacancies in April, but only one had been appointed so far: “So if there is any delay, it is not with us.”

“Our job is to meet the business requirements that we are given and we have done that. It is not our job to call people off the list—that is the job of the department and the judiciary,” she says.

Lord Phillips, the lord chief justice, recently expressed concern about the delays in the appointment of judges, while president of the Family Division of the High Court, Sir Mark Potter, called the vacancies “inexcusable”.
Lady Prashar said the JAC’s new selection process, which was born through the new statutory framework set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, was itself constrained by procedures. “Judges may grumble but equally they will grumble if they are not given time to write their references,” she says.

She adds: “I think it is important that people understand what is actually happening. Carping criticism of a new body does not help. It is not in the public interest because the credibility of the commission matters and ultimately its credibility will depend on the people we appoint.”