Equal merit begins

Candidates for judicial office could find themselves subject to the equal merit provision in selection exercises launched from this week forward.

The provision was introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013. the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) may select a candidate for the purpose of increasing judicial diversity where there are two or more candidates of equal merit, only where there is clear under-representation on the basis of race or gender.

The first tranche of selections where the provision may apply will be for four salaried judge and 25 fee-paid judge positions at the first-tier tribunal and 10 fee-paid deputy judge positions at the upper tribunal; all due to launch on 10 July.

JAC chair, Chris Stephens says: “This measure will not make the judiciary more diverse on its own. That is why it is so important that all the agencies—the JAC, government, the judiciary and the professions—continue work on a range of other measures to help increase the diversity of the judiciary.”