Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
Encyclopedia
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland is public body responsible for making recommendations on appointments to judicial offices
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It commenced work in June 2002 as an administrative body of the Scottish Government.
All recommendations are made to the First Minister of Scotland
First Minister of Scotland
The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...

, who must consult the Lord President of the Court of Session
Lord President of the Court of Session
The Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...

 before making his or her recommendation to the Queen of the United Kingdom in relation to full time judiciary. Appointments to the office of Part-time Sheriff are made by the Scottish Ministers.

Board Members

The Board has ten members (an equal number of lay and judicial/legal members) with a lay Chairing Member. The current Board members are:
  • Chairing Member: Sir Muir Russell
    Muir Russell
    Sir Muir Russell KCB DL FRSE is a former civil servant and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, and Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.-Early life:...

     KCB FRSE (since 2008)
  • Lay Member: Ms Elspeth MacArthur (since 2007)
  • Lay Member: Mr Sandy Mowat CA (since 2008)
  • Lay Member: Professor Andrew Coyle
    Andrew Coyle
    Andrew Coyle, CMG is Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies in London University and Visiting Professor in the University of Essex. He is Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, a post which he also held from between 1997 and 2005...

     CMG (since 2009)
  • Lay Member: Dr Michael Ewart (since 2010)
  • Judicial Member: The Hon Lady Smith (since 2008)
  • Judicial Member: Sheriff Principal James Taylor (since 2010)
  • Judicial Member: Sheriff Kenneth Ross (since 2008)
  • Legal Member: Mr Ian Gillies Armstrong QC, Advocate (since 2010)
  • Legal Member: Mr Martin McAllister, Solicitor (since 2008)

Former Board Members

Chairman: Sir Neil McIntosh
Neil McIntosh
Neil McIntosh is a British journalist working for the Wall Street Journal, where he is Editor of Europe.WSJ.com. The site launched on 9 February 2009...

 CBE DL (2002 to 2008)

Lay Members: Mrs Barbara Duffner OBE FRSE (2002 to 2008), Professor Joan Stringer
Joan Stringer
Dame Joan Kathleen Stringer, DBE, FRSE, FRSA is a British political scientist and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.-Education:...

 CBE (2002 to 2007), Professor Alan Paterson (2002 to 2008), Sir Robert Smith (2002 to 2007), Reverend John Miller (2009 to 2010)

Judicial Members: Lord MacLean (2002 to 2005), Lord Wheatley
John Wheatley, Lord Wheatley
John Francis Wheatley, Lord Wheatley is a Scottish lawyer and Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. He is an authority on road traffic law...

 (2005 to 2007), Sheriff Principal Bruce Kerr QC (2002 to 2007), Sheriff Principal Sir Stephen Young QC Bt (2007 to 2010), Sheriff J Douglas Allan OBE (2002 to 2008)

Legal Members: Mr Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell, Lord Malcolm
Colin Malcolm Campbell, Lord Malcolm is a Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's Supreme Courts.-Early life:...

 QC, Advocate (now Lord Malcolm) (2002 to 2005), Mrs Valerie Stacey
Valerie Stacey, Lady Stacey
Valerie Elizabeth Stacey, Lady Stacey is a Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's Supreme Courts. She was the first woman ever elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.-Early life:...

 QC, Advocate (now Lady Stacey) (2005 to 2007), Mr Roy Martin QC, Advocate (2007 to 2010), Mr Michael Scanlan, Solicitor (2002 to 2008).

Statutory Responsibilities

The Board became an advisory Non-Departmental Body (NDPB) on the 1st June 2009 under the provisions of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. Its statutory responsibilities under the Act are that:

a) the selection of an individual to be recommended for appointment must be solely on merit;

b) the Board may select an individual only if it is satisfied that the individual is of good character; and

c) in carrying out its functions, the Board must have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of individuals available for selection to be recommended for appointment to a judicial office. This is subject to the provisions a) and b) above.

The purpose of the Board is to recommend to the Scottish Ministers individuals for appointment to judicial offices within the Board's remit and to provide advice to Scottish Ministers in connection with such appointments. The judicial offices within the Board's remit are:

- judge
Senator of the College of Justice
The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...

 of the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....



- Chair of the Scottish Land Court
Scottish Land Court
The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction for disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Chairman of the Scottish Land Court is ranked as a Senator of the...



- Sheriff Principal
Sheriff Principal
The office of sheriff principal is unique within the judicial structure of Scotland, and it cannot therefore readily be compared with any other judicial office. It is one of great antiquity, having existed continuously since around the 11th century...



- Sheriff

- Part-time Sheriff

- Temporary Judge, except in cases where the individual to be appointed already holds or has held one of the following offices: judge of the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...

, judge of the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

, Chair of the Scottish Land Court
Scottish Land Court
The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction for disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Chairman of the Scottish Land Court is ranked as a Senator of the...

, Sheriff Principal
Sheriff Principal
The office of sheriff principal is unique within the judicial structure of Scotland, and it cannot therefore readily be compared with any other judicial office. It is one of great antiquity, having existed continuously since around the 11th century...

, Sheriff.

The Scottish Ministers may specify other judicial offices to come within the Board's remit but can only do so by laying a Scottish Statutory Instrument before the Scottish Parliament.

Secretariat

The Board based at 38-39 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7SW. Telephone number 0131 528 5101, fax 0131 528 5105. It is served by a dedicated Secretariat team constisting of the Chief Executive, Secretary to the Board, a Policy Officer and two Administrators

Criticisms

The method of creating the Board and appointing members was not without criticism. The Law Society of Scotland
Law Society of Scotland
The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors.It promotes excellence among solicitors through representation, support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the profession...

 in its members' magazine Journal was critical that the appointments process did not follow procedures recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life
Committee on Standards in Public Life
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government.The Committee on Standards in Public Life is constituted as a standing body with its members appointed for up to three years.-History:...

, and the Chair of the Board is a lay member, a situation said to be "unique in Europe", where the norm is for self-governing bodies to control judicial appointments.

Sir Neil McIntosh, Chair, was critical that the Scottish Executive did not put the Board on a statutory footing, as is the case for the Judicial Appointments Commission
Judicial Appointments Commission
The Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible for selecting judges in England and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body which was created on 3 April 2006 as part of the reforms following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005...

 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
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