Time to buck convention on the bench?

It is time to re-examine the convention that judges, once appointed full-time, cannot return to practise law, Peers have said.

‘We were told that the convention operates as a disincentive and that it is “extremely influential” in deterring potential applicants,’ the Constitution Committee said last week in its report, ‘Judicial Appointments: follow up’.

The committee acknowledged the concept was ‘controversial’ but noted that the Bar Council is in favour of allowing salaried judges to return, and that the convention does not apply to part-time judges.

The committee also recommended that the Lord Chancellor and heads of judiciary consider whether a fixed retirement age of 70 continues to be appropriate, and whether it should be higher at more senior levels of the judiciary.

However, the Peers concluded that the Senior Salaries Review Body’s review is unlikely to significantly increase judicial pay, given the restraints on public sector pay. They also recommended that chartered legal executives be promoted beyond the district bench, and that there be ‘a significant cultural shift’ to address disparities between the number of solicitors and chartered legal executives applying for judicial roles and the number being recommended for appointment.

The report is a follow-up to the committee’s 2012 report on Judicial Appointments, which expressed concerns about the lack of diversity on the bench. Five years on, it notes that many of its recommendations have been implemented, including placing greater emphasis on judicial careers.

This time, however, the follow-up report highlights recruitment problems and the ‘reduced attractiveness of a judicial appointment’.

Sir Robin Allen QC gave evidence of ‘very tatty’ working conditions in the judicial estate. Lord Thomas, the former Lord Chief Justice, told the Peers that morale among judges was low, particularly after one newspaper referred to them as ‘enemies of the people’ during the furore around the Article 50 case in January.

The Peers recommended that chartered legal executives be promoted beyond the district bench, and that there be ‘a significant cultural shift’ to address disparities between the number of solicitors and chartered legal executives applying for judicial roles and the number being recommended for appointment.

However, they concluded that the Senior Salaries Review Body’s review is unlikely to significantly increase judicial pay, given the restraints on public sector pay.