Role and remit

The JAC selects candidates for judicial office through fair and open competition. We are responsible for making appointment recommendations to the Lord Chancellor.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act (CRA) 2005 Parliament gave us very specific duties in regard to the selection of judges. Our statutory responsibilities are:

• to select candidates solely on merit;
• to select only people of good character; and
• to have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of persons available for judicial selection.

Merit, assessed through the demonstration of five qualities and abilities, is the bedrock of our selection process. Once appointed, judges have security of position, a principle on which judicial independence rests. This means the decision to appoint a judicial office holder must be the right one in every case. 

The CRA also requires us to "have regard to the need to encourage applications from a wider range of candidates".

We are committed to ensuring that we make selections from as wide a field as possible and we work closely with a range of organisations to ensure that eligible candidates are aware of the opportunities and have the information they need to apply.

Who we select
We are responsible for recommending candidates to all judicial offices listed in Schedule 14 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 as well as to the offices of the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, President of the Queen's Bench Division, President of the Family Division, Chancellor of the High Court, Lords Justices of Appeal and High Court Judges.

The full list includes both fee paid and salaried roles as well as positions not requiring a legal background.

Scottish appointments are primarily made by The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland and those in Northern Ireland by The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission. The JAC does not select Magistrates.

Relationship with our sponsoring body
As a NDPB we are sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. The arrangements and relationship between the JAC and the MoJ (then DCA) are detailed in the Framework Document, available as a download from the right hand menu, that sets out the strategic control framework for us, including the conditions under which government funds are provided. A letter to Baroness Prashar from Lord Falconer, dated 12 October 2006, covering points raised in the process of settling the Framework Document is also available.