Additional Selection Criteria
The Lord Chancellor might place additional requirements for candidates to meet on each exercise such as previous judicial experience, specific knowledge of a particular area of law or membership of a particular organisation. Additional Selection Criteria will be detailed in the information page for each exercise.
Citizenship
Candidates must be either a UK citizen or a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland at the time of application. Other European Union citizens are not eligible to apply.
Right to Work
Although the JAC ensures that all those it recommends are eligible for judicial appointment, it does not check whether individuals are entitled to work in the UK.
Regardless of an individual’s nationality, race or immigration status, in the UK all workers must provide evidence to a prospective employer confirming their right to work. This includes all those applicants who are otherwise eligible for judicial appointment.
If you are recommended for appointment, you will need to prove to Judicial Office that you have a right to work in the UK. You can find guidance on how to prove that you have a right to work in the UK here: Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Reasonable length of service
There is no upper or lower age limit for candidates apart from the statutory retirement age. The Mandatory Retirement Age (as of 10 March 2022) is 75 and therefore we will consider applications from candidates who can offer a reasonable length of service before reaching the retirement age of 75 following recommendation
The age at which someone is appointed should allow for a reasonable length of service, which is usually between three and five years before retirement.
In applying for any exercise, you should consider whether you can provide the full years’ service before retirement. The JAC Selection and Character Committee will decide whether a candidate will be able to provide a reasonable length of service. In doing this they will take into account the number of vacancies, application numbers and the business need for the role.
Candidates who already hold judicial appointment and were first appointed before March 1995, may have a preserved retirement age of 72 or 75. This includes candidates first appointed to a judicial office listed in Schedule 7 to the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993. Such candidates should inform the JAC about their retirement age.
Before you begin an application for a judicial role, you should consider whether you meet the eligibility criteria. This may include factors such as: