Before applying for a legal role you’ll need to meet the eligibility requirements that are set out in law, as well as any specific requirements detailed in the job advert.
Am I ready to apply?
Before you apply, answer some basic questions about residency, qualifications and experience to check if you’re eligible.
The JAC is required by statute to select only persons of ‘good character’. Answer some questions to check if you satisfy the JAC’s guidance on good character.
Do you understand what sort of decisions you would need to make in situations you may face as a judge? Use this tool to provide you with an insight into the role of a judge.
Citizenship
You must be a citizen of the UK, Republic of Ireland or another Commonwealth country at the time of application.
Right to work
If you are recommended for appointment, you will need to prove to the Judicial Office that you have a right to work in the UK.
Guidance on how to prove your right to work to an employer
Legal experience
To apply for legally qualified roles, you must have at least:
- Seven years of post-qualification experience (PQE) for Upper Tribunal, Circuit Judge and more senior positions
- Five years of post-qualification experience (PQE) for most other legal roles.
This means that from the time you got your legal qualification (for example, when you were admitted into the Roll or when you completed your pupillage), you must have spent at least 20% of each year doing law-related activity. This can be paid or unpaid, and full-time or part-time.
We will count your PQE from the date you qualified to the date when the Selection and Character Committee (SCC) meets to decide who to recommend for appointment.
Career breaks will only count towards your PQE if you continued to carry out law-related activities.
You do not have to be currently on the Roll or have a practicing certificate to apply, only having been appropriately authorised for the length of time to satisfy the eligibility requirements.
Specific laws govern each judicial role which means the PQE requirement may be different to the above depending on the role and experience of the candidate. This is a guide only and the exact requirements will be specified in the job advert.
What counts as law-related activities
These activities are defined as:
- the carrying-out of judicial functions of any court or tribunal
- acting as an arbitrator
- practice or employment as a lawyer
- advising on the application of the law
- assisting persons involved in proceedings for the resolution of issues arising under the law
- acting as mediator in connection with attempts to resolve issues that are, or if not resolved could be, the subject of proceedings
- drafting documents intended to affect persons’ rights or obligations
- teaching or researching law
- any activity that, in the relevant decision-maker’s opinion, is of a broadly similar nature to those listed above
You only need to provide details on (i) if you’ve not spent at least 20% of your time on any of the activities listed in (a) to (h).
Serving as a magistrate does not count as legal experience or as previous judicial experience.
Legislation defining law-related activities
Relevant legal qualification
Some roles, especially those in UK-wide jurisdictions, are open to candidates who qualified in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Others are only open to those who qualified in England and Wales. Check the requirements for each role before you apply.
You’re eligible as a barrister if:
- you completed pupillage
- or, you were called to the Bar of England and Wales and were not required to complete pupillage
If you didn’t complete pupillage, you must explain why in your application. This could be because:
- you were called to the Bar before 1 January 2002
- you were exempt from pupillage by the Bar Standards Board
If you were exempt, you must upload evidence with your application.
You’re eligible as a solicitor from the date your name was first added to the Roll under section 6 of the Solicitors Act 1974.
You do not need to be a litigator or advocate, but experience in courts or tribunals may help your application.
If you’re a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), you’re eligible to apply for the following roles:
- Recorder
- District Judge
- District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts)
- Deputy District Judge
- Deputy District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts)
- Judge of the Upper Tribunal
- Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal
- Judge of the First-tier Tribunal
- Employment Judge
- Road User Charging Adjudicator
- Adjudicators (regulation 17 Civil Enforcement of Parking Conventions)
We encourage Lawyers in the Government Legal Service and the Crown Prosecution Service to apply.
You cannot sit on cases where there is a conflict of interest—such as cases involving your own department.
If you are a full-time government lawyer and sit as a fee-paid judge, you will not receive a daily sitting fee on top of your salary. However, you may be entitled to:
- up to 21 days of paid special leave for judicial sittings
- claim for loss of earnings from HMCTS if you take unpaid leave
If you work part-time, you can claim the full daily fee for any sitting days that fall on your non-working days.
You can also claim travel and subsistence costs from HMCTS for judicial sitting days.
Check the guidance for each vacancy. If you have questions, contact us.
We encourage legal academics to apply.
If you do not have a recognised legal qualification or do not meet the post-qualification experience (PQE) requirement, you may still be able to apply for roles in the First-tier or Upper Tribunals.
This is only possible if the Senior President of Tribunals agrees that your legal experience is equivalent to the standard requirements. This is decided on a case by case basis.
You’re eligible to apply for the following roles:
- Chair or Deputy Chair of the Copyright Tribunal
- appointed persons to hear appeals under the Trade Marks Act 1994
Some salaried roles require previous judicial experience. This can include working as a salaried or fee-paid judge or coroner, or holding a similar role where a legal qualification is required.
A similar role might include being chair of a quasi-judicial body that:
- works like a court
- deals with complex legal matters
- requires you to make fair, reasoned decisions that may affect someone’s legal rights, duties, or privileges
Examples of similar roles include:
- disciplinary tribunals or conduct hearings
- arbitration
- the Parole Board
- chairing a statutory inquiry
The length of judicial experience required as a minimum for a role will be advertised on the information page. This will be a minimum number of completed sitting days since appointment (usually 30 completed sitting days), not include training or sick days.
It is acceptable for the sitting days to be completed across multiple eligible roles. In exceptional circumstances, the JAC may consider allowing candidates who do not meet this requirement to proceed. It is very unlikely that a candidate who has still not completed the minimum sitting days by the time the JAC meets to assess eligibility following the sift, rather than at application, will be allowed to proceed. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the selection exercise team if you are concerned about meeting the eligibility criteria for this exercise.
Serving as a magistrate does not count as previous judicial experience.
In exceptional cases, if you do not have this experience, the Commission may still consider your application if you have shown the necessary skills in a significant other way.