Judiciary

Judiciary, professional judges in a jurisdiction, who are trained, selected, and paid to decide cases and legal issues. In any jurisdiction there is a hierarchy of judges occupying the appropriate positions for the experience and ability of each. In England and Wales most judges try both civil and criminal matters.

The lowest rung on the judicial ladder is the district judge, who hears small civil claims and deals with procedural points raised in the approach to and aftermath of a trial. Much of the district judge's work is essentially administrative. District judges may also be full-time paid magistrates.

Civil trials in the County Court are heard before a circuit judge, who before appointment is either an experienced barrister or an experienced solicitor who has been a recorder (see below). Circuit judges also preside over criminal cases in the Crown Court.

Recorders are part-time judges who hear Crown Court criminal trials, usually for eight weeks of the year. They are drawn from solicitors and barristers with ten years' experience of practice. Recorders and circuit judges can preside over cases of varying seriousness depending on their experience: offences are divided into categories for this purpose. Recorders and circuit judges are addressed as “your honour”, except when they sit at the Old Bailey, when they are addressed as “my Lord” or “my Lady”.

The most serious criminal cases are tried by High Court judges (often known as “red judges” after their judicial gown). These judges are mostly appointed from distinguished Queen's Counsel (the most senior barristers), but in recent years this has not always been the case, with, for example, a former solicitor promoted from the circuit judgeship to the High Court bench. High Court judges try criminal cases on circuit: two or three judges are allocated to each of the six circuits in England and Wales for a period of time, and live in specially provided accommodation as they travel to the various court centres. For the rest of the time the judges try civil cases in the High Court of Justice in London, and sit on criminal appeal cases in the Court of Appeal. They are addressed as “my Lord” or “my Lady”. They are invariably knighted.

The Court of Appeal is presided over by Lord Justices of Appeal, who usually sit in courts of three for civil appeals from the High Court (two from the County Court), and of one Lord Justice with one High Court or senior County Court judge for criminal appeals. Lord Justices of Appeal are chosen from among High Court judges.

The Lord Justice of Appeal may hope to be promoted to the life peerage as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, and sit in the committees of five which hear appeals to the House of Lords. This is the final court of appeal both for the English and Welsh system and the Scottish system, and its decisions can only be overturned by Parliament.

Judges are selected by the Lord Chancellor (the senior lawyer in government), working through an Appointments Commission. The Commission conducts exhaustive enquiries into the professional backgrounds and abilities of candidates, who must provide evidence of a wide range of skills and abilities, both legal and social. They must also show an awareness of contemporary concerns, and be able to demonstrate sensitivity towards the diversity of modern society. An important part of the selection process is the interview, conducted by a member of the judiciary, a civil servant, and a lay member.

Popular prejudice sees the judiciary as white, male, and middle-class. With over half the entrants to both branches of the legal profession now being female, and with increasing numbers being drawn from members of the ethnic minorities entering the professions, this is becoming less and less the case.

In order to remove any temptation to corruption, judges are well paid, although, for many, taking up a judicial career will involve a considerable drop in earnings. Circuit judges and those below can be removed from office by the Lord Chancellor, but it is more common for them to be persuaded to resign on the rare occasions when it is thought necessary. High Court judges can only be removed from office by an address (a request) to the monarch passed by both Houses of Parliament. This has not happened since the 18th century.