New measures are to be introduced to attract judges from a broader cross-section of society, Lord Neuberger has announced, with several vacancies due to arise at the Supreme Court in the next few years.
Half of the 12 justices (currently 11) are retiring or have retired. Lord Neuberger, the President of the Supreme Court, has confirmed that he will retire next year along with Lord Clarke. Lord Hughes, Lord Mance and Lord Sumption will reach retirement age in 2018. Lord Toulson retired last year.
Delivering the Bar Council Annual Law Reform Lecture this week at Inner Temple Hall, London, Lord Neuberger said all but two of the current justices were privately educated, all are white and only one, Lady Hale, is a woman. Consequently, some changes may be made to the recruitment competition for the first trio of new justices, which is due to be launched early next year.
Current proposals include offering a half-day “insight session” tailored to the individual candidate and conducted on a one-to-one basis. Flexible working options could be made available, and the posts would be advertised widely in print and online, stressing that applications are welcomed from “the widest variety of those eligible”.
The appointments panel is expected to publish a new policy on implementing the new equal merit provision, he said, and it will also work with professional bodies and government legal departments in England and the devolved nations to promote vacancies.
Lord Neuberger said he also wished to change the perception that the court only ever sits in London. Ideally, he would like it to sit in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh and to hear English cases while in those three capitals, “in order to remind people that we are a UK court”.
