Judicial Appointments Commission

The Judicial Appointments Commission selects candidates for judicial office in England and Wales, and for some tribunals with UK-wide powers.

It is our statutory duty to select people on merit, who are of good character. We believe the judiciary should reflect the society it serves and we aim to attract diverse applicants from a wide field. We work closely with a range of organisations to promote vacancies to all those who are eligible.

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Announcements

New High Court Judge appointed

20 January 2021

Judicial Office has today announced the appointment of James Mellor QC as a High Court Judge, following an open competition run by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).

He will take up his new role on 8 February.

This is the ninth announcement of High Court Judge appointments this year, with 15 new High Court Judges announced to date.

You can find out more about the new appointees by reading their biographies.

Former Commissioner awarded New Year’s Honour

4 January 2021

HHJ Phillip Sycamore, who was a Senior Judicial Commissioner at the Judicial Appointments Commission between 2014 and 2020, has been recognised for public service in the 2021 New Year Honours list.

We wish Phillip warm congratulations on this honour that recognises his dedication and hard work.

Since finishing his term as Senior Commissioner, Phillip continues to work with the JAC as part of our recently-launched Targeted Outreach and Research Team to improve the diversity of the judiciary.

Welcome to our new website

5 November 2020

We have launched our new website!

As part of building the new website, we asked current, previous and potential candidates for feedback and undertook user research. We fed all these findings into the new website and have been able to build a site that prioritises the information candidates have told us that they are looking for and is easier to navigate.

We are continuing to develop the site over the coming months, so if you have any feedback please do let us know Send us feedback on our new website

Image credit: Image by Bartek Zakrzewski from Pixabay 

The Board of Commissioners

The Commission

Members come from a wide background to ensure the Commission has a breadth of knowledge, expertise and independence.

The Chairman of the Commission is a lay member. 

Of the 14 other Commissioners:

  • 6 must be judicial members (including 2 tribunal judges)
  • 2 must be professional members (each of which must hold a qualification listed below but must not hold the same qualification as each other)
  • 5 must be lay members
  • 1 must be a non-legally qualified judicial member

The legal qualifications are:

  • Barrister in England and Wales
  • Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
  • Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives

Appointment of Commissioners

Professor Lord Ajay Kakkar

Chairman

Lay Commissioner

Lord Kakkar was appointed JAC Chairman on 3 October 2016. He was reappointed for a further 3 years from 2 October 2019.

He is Professor of Surgery, University College London, Chairman of University College London Partners Academic Health Science Partnership and Director of the Thrombosis Research Institute, London.

Lord Kakkar was created a Life Peer in 2010 and sits on the cross benches of the House of Lords. He served as Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission from 2013 to 2018, and was appointed a member of the Privy Council in December 2014.

Reappointment of Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission