Impressive performance by women in recent JAC rounds
Women performed well in the latest two Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) rounds, held in the summer.
In the circuit judge competition, women made up 20% of those eligible to apply, a quarter of all applications, and 37% of the successful candidates. For the district judge (magistrates’ court) competition, women accounted for 19% of the eligible pool, 40% of applications, and 47% of those appointed.
Competition was strong, with nine applications for every circuit judge role and 13 for every district judge role. The selection exercises were completed between April and September 2011.
Christopher Stephens, chairman of JAC, says: “This is a very encouraging, consistent trend which would be further assisted by more salaried part-time working and job-share opportunities.”
Since the start of 2011, 43% of all 478 judicial recommendations to the Lord Chancellor were women, he said.
According to JAC’s records, in the last 10 years more solicitors than barristers were selected as district judges, while five times more barristers than solicitors applied for circuit judge positions.
Previous experience as a deputy district judge (magistrates’ court) was a strong indicator of success. In the circuit judge exercise, 97% of successful candidates were or had been a recorder.
Stephens says: “It’s no surprise the JAC is asked to select people with the knowledge and experience to sit immediately, including having fee-paid judicial experience for salaried judicial roles.”
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