Judges

Judges
Qualifications
The qualifications required to be a judge are set out in the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007. The qualifications for each judge are
-Justices of the Supreme Court need to hold high judicial office or have a superior court qualification
-Lord Justices of Appeal need to have existing High Court judge status or at least seven year legal experience
-High Court judges require being a barrister or solicitor for seven years or Circuit judge for two years
-Circuit judges require experience of being a barrister or solicitor for seven years or they need to have been recorders or district judges
-Recorders need to have been a barrister or solicitor for seven years
-District judges need to have been barrister or solicitor for a minimum 5 years

How judges are selected
Selection of judges is organised by the Judicial Appointments Commission. Selection is done by a mixed panel of judges, lay people and lawyers. All appointments for judicial positions are advertised so that the judiciary is diversified. When a candidate applies for the position they must provide references. There are interviews held that assess the attitude and aptitude of the candidate.

Training
Training for judges is conducted by the Judicial Studies Board. For superior judges the training is optional. For an inferior judge the training is compulsory especially for newly appointed recorders. The training consists of a one week course which deals with sentencing, running a criminal court and human awareness. Inferior judges also have to spend a week shadowing an experienced judge before they themselves can sit on the bench. One day course run from time to time to update judges on changes to the…