Judging to remain a job for life

The government has heeded advice from the judiciary and backtracked on its pledge to allow judges to return to practice.
Announcing the decision this week, Jack Straw, the lord chancellor, said he was not persuaded that lifting the conventional prohibition on returning to the ranks would increase the diversity of the judiciary—a major plank of the policy endorsed by his predecessor, Lord Falconer.

In its responses to the paper, the Judges’ Council expressed doubt on whether plans to impose restrictions and conditions on judges returning to practice were workable. It said that the decision should be a matter for the judiciary and was not within the remit of the lord chancellor.
The Council of Circuit Judges felt there was no evidence to show that the policy change would increase the diversity of the pool of applicants for judicial office.

The government decided to opt out of the proposals, despite a response from the Law Society that suggested judges should be allowed to return to practice without the need for restrictions or conditions.

The proposal had also been welcomed by JUSTICE, which said that the current prohibition was likely to affect diversity in the appointment of junior members of the judiciary.

This feeling was echoed by the Young Solicitors Group, which felt that judicial office holders should be able to return to the profession to ensure their skills benefit the public, as well as the profession.