Appointment of the Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission

Download or read book Appointment of the Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-02-07 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. The JAC was created in April 2006 following provisions in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The JAC was intended to ensure independence and transparency in the judicial appointments process by making recommendations to the Lord Chancellor based on fair and open competition. The JAC makes recommendations for all judicial post-holders except lay magistrates and supreme court judges. The Ministry of Justice informed the Committee on 10 January that the Secretary of State's preferred candidate for the Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission was Christopher Stephens. The Committee endorses Mr Stephens' suitability for the position of Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission. It thought that Mr Stephens' experience in the commercial sector was particularly relevant to ensuring that the JAC is an efficient organisation. It also values his experience in making appointments in the civil service but welcome his recognition that judicial appointments have special and different requirements.