Nigel was appointed Chief Executive of the Judicial Appointments Commission in December 2011. He joined the JAC as Director of Strategy and Outreach in March 2008 from the Ministry of Justice, where he had developed the Government’s policy on legal services reform and led the subsequent Bill team. Previously he worked for the Ministry of Defence.
The Judicial Appointments Commission was created under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to select judges for courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland. Selections are to be made solely on merit from a broad range of candidates.
Each year around 5000 people put in an application for the wide range of court and tribunal roles available – many of them open only to lawyers and serving judges – but also for a myriad of specialist member roles. Around 500 or so of those aspiring applicants will be successful and receive an offer of appointment. The diversity of these selections is improving – over 50% were women in our most recent set of published diversity data for both legal and non-legal roles (April- September 2013).
Please complete the Barristers’ Working Lives survey this month to help shape and prioritise the Bar Council’s work
AlphaBiolabs supports children’s Hospice with £500 donation
Rachel Davenport, Co-founder and Director at AlphaBiolabs, discusses the company’s commitment to giving back to communities across the UK
By Kem Kemal of Henry Dannell
By Nick Bonnello and Aaron Young of RWB Chartered Accountants
By Kem Kemal of Henry Dannell
Animal sexual abuse is a distressing and taboo subject. Yet, write Christina Warner and Maya Badham, this hidden crisis, where legal, ethical and psychological factors converge, requires frank discussion
Maria Scotland and Niamh Wilkie report from the Bar Council’s 2024 visit to the United Arab Emirates exploring practice development opportunities for the England and Wales family Bar
Marking Neurodiversity Week 2025, an anonymous barrister shares the revelations and emotions from a mid-career diagnosis with a view to encouraging others to find out more
David Wurtzel analyses the outcome of the 2024 silk competition and how it compares with previous years, revealing some striking trends and home truths for the profession
Save for some high-flyers and those who can become commercial arbitrators, it is generally a question of all or nothing but that does not mean moving from hero to zero, says Andrew Hillier
