Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission Explained

The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) recommends candidates for appointment as judges of the Appeal Court and to all judicial offices listed in Schedule 14 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002.^[1]

The JAC is a non-departmental public body which was created on 3 April 2006 through the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002.

The Appropriate Authority (either the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice or Senior President of Tribunals) can accept or reject a JAC recommendation, or ask the Commission to reconsider it. If the Appropriate Authority rejects a recommendation or asks for reconsideration they must provide written reasons to the JAC.

The Act also established the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary of Northern Ireland.

Under the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act Parliament gave the JACNI the following statutory duties:

• to select candidates solely on merit;
• to select only people of good character; and
• to have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of persons available for judicial selection.

Remit

The JAC is an independent commission that selects candidates for the following judicial office in courts and tribunals in Northern Ireland:

• Judge, temporary judge of the High Court
• County court judge, Deputy county court judge
• Resident magistrate and deputy resident magistrate
• Coroner and deputy coroner
• Statutory officer, Deputy for a statutory officer, Temporary additional statutory officer
• Chief Social Security Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Social Security Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Deputy Social Security Commissioner for Northern Ireland
• Chief Child Support Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Child Support Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Deputy Child Support Commissioner for Northern Ireland
• President of appeal tribunals, Members of appeal tribunals
• Member of Care Tribunal
• Chairman of an Appeal Tribunal
• President, acting president, vice-president, acting vice-president, chairmen of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal
• President, Deputy President, other members, temporary members of the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland
• President of the Special Educational Needs and Disability for Northern Ireland
• Member of the panel of persons who may serve as chairman of that Tribunal
• Member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Northern Ireland
• Lay magistrate
• Member of a deregulation tribunal
• Chairman of a Misuse of Drugs Tribunal
• President, Deputy President of Pensions Appeal Tribunals and Member of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal
• Chairman or Deputy of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal for the purpose of proceedings brought before it in Northern Ireland
• Member of the panel of persons to act as chairmen of Reinstatement Committees sitting in Northern Ireland
• President of the Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal
• Member of the Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal
• President or other member of the Charity Tribunal for Northern Ireland
• Adjudicator and Chairman of Criminal Injuries Compensation
• Chairman of an Adoption Appeal Tribunal
• Member, president of the Victims' Payments Board

Members

The Judicial Appointments Commission comprises 11 commissioners. Five, excluding the Chairman, are appointed through open competition.^[2]

The Chairman of the Commission is the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.^[3]

The members of the Commission (as at 8 July 2024)^[4] are:

Chairman:

Judicial members:

Lay members:

Staff

The Chief Executive is Tonya McCormac.

See also

• Courts of Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. act . 2002 . 26 . Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 . 2010-04-12 . 2024-07-08 .
2. act . 2002 . 26 . Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 . 3 . 2010-04-12 . 2024-07-08 .
3. act . 2002 . 26 . Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 . 3 . 2005-06-15 . 2024-07-08 .
4. Web site: Commissioners. HM Government. Judicial Appointments Commission. 27 August 2020 . 22 January 2024.