"Criticallyevaluate the Role of the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments."

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“Critically evaluate the Role of the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments.”

The commission was set up originally after Sir Leonard Peach was ordered to provide a report into how the proceedings of appointments for the judiciary and the Queen’s Counsel was made. The main aim of the report was to evaluate the procedures into how judicial and Queen’s counsel appointments are made. In particular the effectiveness of the criteria given and the procedures for the selection of the best candidates, the safeguards against discrimination against race or gender and the way in which candidates are assessed with regards to the criteria.

Lord Irvine the current Lord Chancellor before appointment into office had strongly criticised the so-called secretive and outdated system and had called for an independent appointments commission. Now that he has been appointed into his current position, the independent commission for judicial appointments set up does not actually appoints the judiciary but instead monitors the Lord Chancellor’s team that does. In a damning report, it was found that the appointments system was said to be slow, unsystematic and unprofessional. It also found that a number of senior judges and leaders of the legal profession did not provide detailed reasons for their assessments, which was a requirement. It has been suggested the current system is still producing a white male dominated judiciary due to the lack of transparency.

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The goal of the commission set up after Sir Leonard’s report is to investigate complaints and review the appointments process, and does not have any role in the appointment of the judiciary or the Queen’s Counsel. None of the commissioners appointed are practising lawyers therefore ensuring total independence and bias from the subject matter. The commission can only examine and report the finding concerned and is not an appeal body.

        The commissioners may investigate any complaints that have arisen from the application of the appointment’s procedures. In doing so the commissioner would investigate into whether the complainant’s application was ...

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