Judicial appointment

Judges are not born: but they can be created by experience and training

HHJ Horton describes the judicial awareness course which he has devised and facilitates personally, and encourages ambitious and talented applicants to apply for judicial office.

About the author
Judge Horton has been the appointed Diversity Judge for Avon and Somerset for eight years. He practised as a barrister in Bristol, with a practice in criminal work, but also in personal injury, contract and employment law. He is well known for his enthusiasm in persuading women and black and minority ethnic applicants, and people from all walks of life to consider judicial appointment.

E veryone recognises - and has recognised for quite some time now - that the judiciary requires greater diversity in terms of both gender and ethnicity to enable the judiciary to reflect society and to be seen to do so. Perhaps not quite as obvious, but just as important to that process, is the need to encourage those who have the ability and skills to become judges, at every level, to apply to become judges, most particularly where their experience of professional life or an academic career may not be one that historically led to judicial appointment. The specific experience and qualifications of an applicant may dictate the nature of the role in such initial appointment or specify the type of court or tribunal to which such a candidate may eventually be appointed, but it is the qualities that an applicant has which dictate whether that person can perform a judicial role.

Judicial training

It is not well known by the general public that in other countries in the world, particularly in Europe, people are trained and qualify to become judges much as they qualify to become Chartered Legal Executives, solicitors or barristers in the UK. Once appointed as a judge in the UK, there is a continuing obligation to undergo annual professional training and development, which is undertaken to ensure that judges are up to date and continually learning new skills. Such ongoing training increases the experience, skill and competence of a judge. Anyone who was not formally trained as a lawyer can also increase their skills as a judge. The rest of the world has known for a long time that judges are not born, but they can be trained.

Transferable skills

If one looks at, and analyses, the basic type of key qualities and abilities which are fundamental to the role of performing a judicial role, these are not necessarily derived from a career in the law. Almost all of these are required for demanding jobs in the private sector. For example, an intellectual capacity which enables you quickly to absorb and analyse information and acquire knowledge of new areas of expertise, where necessary, would be a feature required by most employers. They are, therefore, abilities many have from performing other responsible jobs in their lives. The judicial role is likely to require personal qualities, such as integrity, judgment, objectivity and decisiveness and an ability to understand people - and deal fairly with them - wherever they come from, and to be prepared to listen to them with both patience and courtesy. These are qualities and abilities that most people in the private sector have acquired, and which are essential to success in their careers. The communication skills which enable a clear explanation of any office procedures or any decisions reached, with the aim of inspiring both the confidence and respect of those to whom you make that explanation, are also part and parcel of most good jobs in the commercial world. To be able to work efficiently, at speed and while under pressure, almost invariably requires organisational skills and, usually, an ability to work constructively with others. Again, these are skills that most people working in any large organisation need to acquire to work effectively.

It is clear when one analyses the basic skills of a judge that these are basic skills that many have already. It will be obvious, therefore, that an ability to analyse material, listen fairly to people and then deliver a reasoned explanation which will then be called a judgment is something that is well within the capacity of a large number of members of the community. These skills are required whether one deals with road traffic parking appeals or cases in the highest courts in the land.

Chartered Legal Executives: apply now!

For many who have trained and gained legal qualifications through CILEx, they have acquired and honed these skills while working for other organisations. The fact that they have done so, and acquired legal skills under that kind of pressure – organising their lives and dedicating themselves through the love of the law – means that they are likely to have acquired precisely the skills that the judicial system needs. What is required is for Chartered Legal Executives to have the desire and ambition, and the knowledge to know that, if they pursue a judicial career, there is now a clear desire to open that career path to them and encourage them. For example, many people did not know that if you are a Fellow of CILEx, you are eligible to apply for selection, therefore, for consideration for appointment as the following:

• District Judge;
• Deputy District Judge;
• Judge of the First–tier Tribunal;
• Employment Judge;
• Road User Charging Adjudicator; and
• Adjudicator (Regulation 17 of the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007 SI No 3483).

Judicial Taster course

For eight years, I have run a ‘Judicial Taster course’ for anyone interested in understanding the practicalities and thought processes involved in the judicial process at a fundamental level. Ideally, this is done while shadowing a judge because a marshal can then see the matters that have been explained played out in a real courtroom situation (as both Craig Tickner and Louise Turner experienced with me), but which can be done in a day course for any interested groups.*

It is capable, I believe, of giving a genuine idea of the type of thought processes which are involved in a judicial role, and enables people to recognise that they may have those skills and that the first step to a judicial career may be simply to recognise that one has those skills. It goes without saying that these skills can be developed without regard to race or gender. It is essential that the judiciary continues to develop in its diversity. All those now concerned with judicial appointments are keen to encourage those who have these skills to apply for judicial roles, which may be the first step to a career as a judge.

* See (2016) December and November CILExJ p44 and p40 respectively.