Welcome
to the website of the Office of the Commissioner for Judicial
Appointments for Northern Ireland. It provides information about the
work of the Office for information purposes only.
The Commissioner had no role in making appointments to the judiciary or as Queen's Counsel. The Commissioner? Why was he appointed? What is his role? Judicial Appointments Complaints Procedure Audit Report Annual Reports Audits Research Report John Simpson OBE, was the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments for Northern Ireland from 12 December 2001 to 22 September 2006 when a Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman was appointed. The Agreement reached in Belfast on Good Friday 1998 provided for 'a wide-ranging review of criminal justice (other than policing and emergency legislation)'. As a result a Review Group was set up to examine the existing criminal justice system and to bring forward proposals for future criminal justice arrangements. The Review Group's terms of reference included, amongst others: "The arrangements for making appointments to the judiciary and magistracy, and safeguards for protecting their independence." The Report of the Review of the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland was published in March 2000. The Review Group recommended the appointment of a Commissioner to oversee and monitor the fairness of all aspects of the existing appointments system until such time as it is possible to establish a Judicial Appointments Commission. This overseeing role was largely based on the recommendations of Sir Leonard Peach in his report on the Independent Scrutiny of the Appointment Processes of Judges and Queen's Counsel in England & Wales but tailored to meet the specific circumstances in Northern Ireland. The Government published an Implementation Plan on 12 November 2001 detailing its response to each recommendation. The Lord Chancellor asked the Commissioner to:
Judicial Appointments Complaints Procedure The Commissioner published an
information leaflet on the Complaints Procedure for Judicial Appointments
in March 2003. This leaflet which summarises the Complaints
Procedure can be downloaded by clicking here. The Commissioner published an Audit Report on judicial appointments and appointments to Queen's Counsel on Monday 18 August 2003. While the Audit Report provides detailed information gathered during the Commissioner's first year in office, the audit review of actual appointment schemes covers an 18 month period up to December 2002. A full list of the one hundred plus recommendations can be found in the Executive Summary. The full Audit Report can be downloaded by clicking here.
The Commissioner published his First Annual Report (2002/2003) on Thursday 2 October 2003. The Report recounts and reviews steps taken during the Commissioner's year in office and also focuses sharply on the likely nature of future changes and developments in the judicial system. The full Annual Report for 2002/2003 can be downloaded by clicking here.
The Commissioner published his second Annual Report (2003/2004) on Monday 4 October 2004. The Report focused on the development of the key issues identified in the Audit Report 2003. Many of the recommendations in that Report have been accepted and implemented. However, a large number have been the subject of further discussion to take account of the response from the NICtS and this dialogue is outlined in this Annual Report. The full Annual Report for 2003/2004 can be downloaded by clicking here. Third Annual Report - 2004 / 2005The Commissioner published his third Annual Report (2004/2005) on Monday 17 October 2005. The Report outlines the Commissioner's audit work and other activities for the year 2004/2005. It also outlines outstanding recommendations and issues for further debate which will now be taken forward by the newly appointed Judicial Appointments Commission. The full Annual Report for 2004/2005 can be downloaded by clicking here. Fourth Annual Report - 2005 / 2006 The Commissioner published his fourth Annual Report (2005/2006) on Wednesday 21 June 2006. The report outlines the Commissioner's remaining audit work,* complaints investigated and other activities for the year 2005/2006. It also includes a "Five Year Perspective", in which the Commissioner summarises the progress made in the assessment processes for making judicial appointment in that time and outlines some of the challenges that now fall to the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission to further enhance those processes. * The Judicial Appointments (Amendment) Order in Council 2005 (7 June 2005), revoked the Commissioner's audit function following the establishment of the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission on 15 June 2005. The full Annual Report for 2005/2006 can be downloaded by clicking here. Since publication of the Audit Report in 2003, the following schemes have been individually audited. Reports setting out the Commissioner’s observations of each of these competitions have been sent to the Lord Chancellor. · County Court Judge 2002/03 · Resident Magistrate 2002/03 · High Court Judge 2003 · Lay Members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal 2003 · Legal Members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal 2003 · Part-time Chairman of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunals 2003/04
· High Court Judge 2004 (February)
· High Court Master (Family Division) 2004
· Lay Magistrates 2003/04 · County Court Judge 2004
The
findings confirmed that some procedures have already been adapted to
reflect the recommendations within the Audit Report however there is room
for further development. The Commissioner also has an ongoing role to monitor progress on the recommendations in the Audit Report. Research Report The Commissioner published a Research Report entitled ‘Applications by Women for Silk and Judicial Office in In the Commissioner’s Audit Report, published in 2003, there was a recommendation that research should be commissioned on the ‘factors which affect the decisions of barristers and solicitors, and in particular women, on whether to apply for judicial appointments’ [paragraph 5.5.16]. A similar recommendation to research why more women were not applying for Silk was also included [paragraph 9.10.9]. In May 2004 Dermot Feenan, from the
The full Research Report can be downloaded by
clicking here. The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
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