Independent assessors play an important role in the Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC) selection process.
The information you provide is considered by the sift and interview panels and contributes to the candidate’s overall grades. Read about the JAC selection process.
All information you send us is strictly confidential. No details you provide will be shared directly with candidates and no comments will be attributed to you.
The role of independent assessments
These assessments are designed to give additional evidence of the candidate’s ability to perform the duties specified in the role. Your assessment should correlate with the evidence provided separately by the candidate and support their application. It is not a substitute for the candidate demonstrating their skills and abilities and competencies.
Unable to act as an independent assessor
If you cannot act as an assessor, you must contact the candidate immediately and ask them to nominate someone else.
How to complete an assessment
The selection exercise team will email you a form that lists each competency or skill and ability area required by the particular role. View an example assessment form.
When you complete the form you should:
- provide specific examples of the candidate’s performance against each heading
- avoid generalities and assertions that are not supported by evidence
- think about examples that are based on challenging, complex or highly sensitive situations
- talk to the candidate to remind yourself of any specific cases or events
Using the SOAR model
We recommend using the SOAR model to structure your examples:
- Situation – briefly explain the context
- Objective – say what they needed to achieve
- Action – describe what they did and how they did it (this is the most important part)
- Result – explain the outcome and what they learned
Examples of helpful independent assessments
The following examples offer specific, detailed and relevant evidence against the required skills and abilities.
Evidence required for: Exercising judgement
The candidate represented the Defendant in the matter of A v B in a road traffic accident claim. Causation of the Claimant’s injuries was disputed. The candidate felt that the Defendant had good prospects of challenging the injury claim but limited prospects of challenging the vehicle damage claim.
The candidate presented their case calmly, clearly and concisely, despite encountering aggressive pressure at the door of the Court.
After giving advice, the candidate was able to negotiate a settlement of the vehicle damage claim and the Claimant agreed to abandon the injury claim, thereby saving a significant amount in damages and costs.
Evidence required for: Possessing and building knowledge
The candidate has excellent knowledge of both law and procedure, which enables them to be both practical and resourceful in their handling of cases. I have numerous examples of the candidate using their knowledge to good effect but a recent one is when they represented the Defendant in C v D Insurance.
The Claimant had failed to comply with numerous directions and caused repeated delays. Prior to the hearing, the claim was struck out on the grounds that the Claimant had not paid a fee.
Normally in these circumstances the Defendant would be unable to obtain an enforceable costs order under the Qualified One Way Costs Shifting rules.
However, the candidate argued that the rules should be dis-applied and persuaded the court that the Claimant had obstructed the just disposal of proceedings prior to strike out, so he should not be allowed costs protection.
The judge agreed, reinstated the claim and struck it out again on different grounds, giving the Defendant the enforceable costs order that they sought.
Examples of unhelpful independent assessments
This assessment information contains no specific examples which means it provides no evidence to help the panel.
Evidence required for: Exercising judgement
From speaking with other colleagues in [location], the candidate seems to have settled in well as a DDJ and there are no doubts about their intellect or judgement. I have not had the benefit of seeing their appraisal.
Evidence required for: Possessing and building knowledge
Again, from speaking to colleagues they appear to have good knowledge and one mentioned that they have publications under their belt.
Additional guidance for judicial assessors
If you are a judicial assessor, you should look at providing specific examples of the candidate’s performance in their judicial role.
Recent appraisals that you have carried out with a candidate can be a good source of evidence for an assessment. You should only share information that is relevant to the competency skills and abilities framework for the role. Do not just copy and paste the appraisal into the form.
Examples of helpful assessments using an appraisal
These examples show an assessor using the candidate’s appraisal to demonstrate they can meet the competency requirements for the role.
Evidence required for: Assimilating and clarifying information
On their appraisal day a case was moved into their list only 30 minutes before the start of the court day so although they had arrived early to ensure all their cases were pre-read, they had to assimilate and absorb a new file of papers and skeleton arguments on an unusual point of law at very short notice.
During the course of argument further points were also raised by the advocates. The candidate coped extremely well with the situation and extracted the relevant points and issues from the papers and ensured the advocates addressed those issues.
The candidate listened carefully to the additional arguments raised to assess relevance and once the candidate had heard enough to do so, directed the arguments to the most pertinent points.
Evidence required for: Managing work efficiently
On their appraisal day the candidate had a busy list of short appointments and had an additional case added at 1 hours’ notice to an already full list. The candidate arrived early to pre-read the papers in the originally listed cases and had identified in advance the relevant issues and arguments in each case.
Where the candidate was able, they had also pre-read digital files. When faced with an additional case being added at late notice the candidate responded calmly and quickly and read and assimilated the case file.
Their time management was excellent. They ensured the advocates and parties focused on the pertinent issues and intervened where necessary to narrow the issues, whilst still allowing full argument on the pertinent points. Their list kept to time throughout the day. When the candidate had any breaks between cases, they dealt with boxwork and drafted orders to assist the staff.
Additional guidance for professional assessors
The assessment form will ask you whether there is anything that you would like to draw to our attention. You should only answer this if you have any areas of concern.
If you do, then let us know:
- when the concern was identified
- whether the candidate is aware of it and if so, whether they have demonstrated any improvement
The panel may use this information to identify issues to explore during the section process.