shadow them in court and receive one-to-one mentoring either in person or over the telephone. This was one aspect that our first female Chartered Legal Executive Judge, Elizabeth Johnson, reported as being particularly valuable when she took part in the pilot and, soon after, became appointed to the judiciary ((2019) Spring CILExJ pp6–9)).
Following the success of the pilot and increased interest from members in preparing to seek judicial appointment through PAJE, we feel that now is the right time to rollout the Judicial Development Programme to all CILEx members eligible to apply for judicial appointment.
As part of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, Chartered Legal Executive Lawyers with at least five years’ post-qualification experience may apply for some judicial appointments. You can read more about the posts open to suitably qualified CILEx Lawyers on our website.5
The programme shall open shortly, with our first training course being led by Manjula Bray and hosted in Bristol on Saturday 19 October 2019. Places will be limited to 12 delegates and an associated charge of £495 plus VAT will apply. See also page 49 of this issue.
If you would like to register your interest in securing a place on the Judicial Development Programme, please e-mail: beajudge@cilex.org.uk
CILEx Judicial Development Programme training
HHJ Horton: Insights on life as a judge, a mentor and a CILEx judicial trainer Louise
Turner interviews HHJ Mark Horton, resident judge at Bristol Crown Court.
You are a great supporter of CILEx, and champion our members to apply for judicial appointment. Can you tell our members: What is it really like when appointed to be a Crown Court judge?
The position of a Crown Court judge, like any other judicial role, requires you to recognise that the position requires you to remember that what you do is extremely important, but that you personally are not. At all times, you need to reflect that being a judge is what you ‘do’, it is not what you ‘are’.
The factors that gained you the ability and privilege to be appointed have not changed. You are the same person, but with the enormous daily responsibility for people’s lives and to make people feel that they have been heard and the process is fair.
Aside from your everyday judicial duties (the day job), you commit a great deal of your time to raising awareness and promoting access to judicial appointment, particularly from groups currently underrepresented within the judiciary. Can you tell members, in practical terms, what you do, particularly in your roles as a Diversity and Community Relations Judge, and a mentor and trainer to CILEx members and students entering the legal profession?
I recognised that one of the real opportunities in a diversity and community relations job was to reach out to the whole community, most particularly the BAME communities, but also sectors of society that needed to be inspired to believe about themselves and their ability to understand the criminal process. I have devised a number of courses for inner-city schools which enable school children, and students from all sections of the public, interactively to feel and experience the thinking processes for all those in the criminal process. This is the judicial awareness course. I devised a school visit system to the Crown Court in Bristol, which has a very specific format that I tailor to the level of the group who visit.
Essentially, I put every member of the group in the positions of juror and witness interactively to experience a small part of what the real role feels like. I take more marshals than any other judge in the country to teach them different thinking processes, which they can then observe with me in real cases. There are articles in the CILEx Journal and a diary reflecting what happens for CILEx members is available. The phrase describing that I ‘unbuckle your thinking process’ in that diary is the perfect description of what I seek to achieve.
I have always been a huge admirer of Chartered Legal Executives. I have, throughout my whole career, felt that their huge determination and proven intellectual understanding of the law, which has often been pursued in their spare time whilst working, has remained hugely undervalued in the legal profession. I believe, very firmly, that the qualification has the potential to provide judges. At this time, that opportunity extends to positions up to district judge. That, if appointed early, is simply the start for those who have the ability to develop the competencies which satisfy greater judicial challenges. Judges are not born, but those who have the essential skills can be trained.
I believe - and it is the reason I offered and wrote the taster course just for CILEx - there is, in my opinion, no group better suited nor better experienced in dealing with litigants in person and who have spent more time with the stressed and challenged client when they are faced with legal challenges than Chartered Legal Executives. I am glad to say that the course does seem to have prompted applications for appointment which have been successful.
Their appointment comes about from truly recognising they had those skills and applying. My desire is to inspire Chartered Legal Executives to believe they have the competencies to get some training to prepare for application, and to take their place in the judiciary.
What words of wisdom could you o›er to CILEx members thinking about a career in the judiciary. What should they do to prepare?
CILEx has developed, and continues to develop, key practical courses and strategies to teach what is needed in the application process itself and the preparation that needs to take place, prior to completing the application document, to ensure it contains the right type of evidential backing that the JAC are seeking. The PAJE and the CILEx Judicial Development Programme are essential in this process.
Recently, we have celebrated two of our female CILEx members being appointed to the judiciary. We know the judiciary would like to see more females entering the profession, but how can our female members stand out when it comes to preparing themselves for appointment, in your opinion?
If two applicants have the same competencies and experience and abilities, and both have the same qualification to be appointed, then the female applicant will be appointed in preference to the male applicant. It does not, of course, mean that women will be given preferential treatment in appointment.
There is no watering down of the quality requirements to prefer women simply because they are women. It reflects a genuine desire to appoint women in the situation I have described. The judiciary needs more women, as it does BAME applicants, to apply for appointment. In my opinion, it is time that women applied for deputy or part-time roles. This will enable them to see if they enjoy it, and that it fits into their lifestyle and other roles. They do not have to apply for a full-time role unless and until they ever want to. I think this is sometimes forgotten.
What is a realistic timeline for preparing for judicial appointment?
This depends entirely on the preparation undertaken, now offered enthusiastically through CILEx. Preparing the application and knowing what experience is sought is a key aspect. Understanding and recognising that one truly has the skills for an appointment is vital.
Taking on any roles in a firm, or in private life, which demonstrate fair and equal decision-making processes will be very attractive additions in an application. It shows the approach and that independent fairness abilities in decisionmaking have been learned. Courses undertaken which develop these skills are also valuable for the same reason. The sooner you start, the sooner you can apply!
About the author
Louise Turner is the
membership development
manager at CILEx.