Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has taken steps to work with other organisations to reform the recruitment function of the judiciary.

The independent Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is responsible for running recruitment exercises and for making recommendations to judicial posts up to and including the High Court. It has a statutory duty under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to select on merit and to encourage diversity. The JAC is committed to improving its selection processes continuously, which are kept under review in partnership with external and independent experts, to ensure best recruitment practice is maintained and developed.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), as part of the Judicial Diversity Forum, works with the JAC, the judiciary and the legal professions to attract and support the widest range of candidates, to improve the rate of progress of under-represented groups overall, with action required at all stages of the process and from all members of the JDF.

The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for the appointment of magistrates, and recruitment to the magistracy is delivered in partnership with with MoJ, HMCTS and Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace. The Government recently invested over £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of new magistrates. This has included the introduction of a new digital recruitment process and inclusive marketing strategy designed to increase application numbers from under-represented groups. This was developed in collaboration with a steering group including HMCTS and Judicial Office, the Magistrates Association and judicial office holders, all of whom MoJ continue to work closely with.