The Judiciary

High Court Judges

9 High Court Judges, on appointment, must have had either a ten year right of audience in relation to all proceedings in the High Court, or to have been a Circuit Judge for at least two years.

There are now 106 High Court Judges, whose annual salary is £132,603. 71 are Queen's Bench Judges, of whom 12 sit in the Commercial List and 23 in the Administrative Court. Most Queen's Bench Judges normally spend half of each law term on circuit and half in London.

On circuit they try serious crime and civil cases, but mostly crime. In London their time is split, usually between hearing appeals in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and sitting in civil or administrative matters.

There are 17 High Court Judges assigned to the Chancery Division. They sit mostly in London, but two of them also sit frequently on circuit. The 17 High Court Judges assigned to the Family Division also sit mostly in London, but frequently go out on circuit for short periods as the work demands.

Proper use of Queen's Bench Judges is fundamental to the efficient working of the senior judiciary and of the various jurisdictions in which they sit. They constitute about two-thirds of all High Court Judges and they play a crucial role in civil and public law proceedings as well as criminal matters. The Bowman Committee, which has recently undertaken a review of administrative law work, envisages a substantial increase in it and, thus, an increase in the work of the Queen's Bench Judges sitting in the Administrative Court.

This is due largely to the ever increasing calls on its jurisdiction in judicial review, now given further impetus by the advent to our domestic law of Human Rights and recent changes to immigration and asylum law and practice. These developments are likely to require a greater focus of High Court Judges' time on matters of public and constitutional importance and less on some of the traditional work that they now share with Circuit Judges when sitting in crime.

The High Court Bench is thus a job that requires and should attract appointees of the highest quality, a comparatively small number of judges at the apex of our hierarchy of trial judges, also exercising the vital jurisdiction of judicial review and participating in a major way in criminal appeals.

Circuit Judges

On appointment, Circuit Judges must have had a ten year right of audience in the Crown or county courts or to have been a Recorder, or to have held a full-time post, such as a member of an administrative tribunal or a District Judge.

There are now about 570 Circuit Judges, whose annual salary is £99,420. They are normally appointed to hear both criminal and civil cases, though some exercise specialist civil or criminal jurisdictions. They are supported by part-time judges, Recorders, each of whom normally sits for between three and six weeks a year, with a broadly similar jurisdiction to that of Circuit Judges but generally dealing with less complex and difficult matters.

Both Circuit Judges and Recorders are assigned on appointment to one of the six circuits. They may exercise jurisdiction at any court centre in the country, but normally sit at one centre or in one group of courts on their assigned circuit.

At each court centre one of the Circuit Judges is appointed by the Lord Chancellor to act as the Resident Judge that is to undertake responsibility, under the oversight of the Presiding Judges, for management of the judicial work at the centre and as a point of liaison with the court manager. The appointments, which are for four years and may be renewed, carry no extra pay. In the largest centres, these responsibilities are undertaken by judges designated as Senior Circuit Judges, who are appointed under a different system and are paid more than a Circuit Judge, to reflect the considerable administrative and judicial burden that the posts involve.

Recorders

England and Wales is almost unique in its extensive reliance on part-time judges, Recorders, in the exercise of criminal and civil jurisdiction in its higher courts. Practitioners are eligible for appointment as a Recorder if they have had a right of audience in the Crown or county courts for ten years or more.

There are now nearly 1,400 of them and, in 2000 they dealt with 14% of trials in the Crown Court. For many years until recently, appointment was initially made as an Assistant Recorder for up to three years. At the end of that period, or earlier if the appointee was a Queen's Counsel, and if all went well, he could expect appointment as a full Recorder, again for three years and renewable thereafter every three years.

In November 1999, the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland held that Scottish temporary sheriffs were insufficiently independent of the Executive for the purpose of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights because of the insufficiency of their security of tenure. As a result, the Lord Chancellor appointed all existing Assistant Recorders as Recorders and now makes all new appointments to a full Recordership. Appointment is through open competition; the initial period of appointment is normally for not less than five years and is normally renewable automatically. This is part of a general change in the terms of service of all part-time judicial office-holders in England and Wales.

On appointment, Recorders are entitled to a minimum of 15 days' sitting a year, and may sit up to a maximum of 30 days each year. If possible, at least ten days' sitting should be in one continuous period. Compliance with these requirements is important for two main reasons. First, if the probationary period as a Recorder is to give them the experience they need and to enable them to demonstrate their ability to cope with the work, they must sit for the minimum periods required and on a reasonably regular basis throughout the whole period of their appointment. Second, unless they commit themselves to continuous sittings of at least two weeks at a time, it is difficult to list work before them efficiently. Even two weeks makes for difficulties in listing, because in the second week even a short case of, say two or three days, and cannot be started if there is a risk of not completing it by the end of the week.