Judicial Appointments and Retirements (Age Limits) Bill (House of Commons) HCB 69

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The Queen is pleased to approve the appointment of six Justices of the High Court. These appointments will take effect from 1 October 2020. It is anticipated that a further ten appointments will be announced in the coming months.

It will also make sure our courts and tribunals can continue to benefit from a world-class judiciary, as we emerge from the pandemic and beyond. The Queen is pleased to approve the appointment of a Justice of the High Court. This appointment will take effect from 1 October 2021. It is anticipated that further appointments will be announced in the coming months. There is no upper or lower age limit for candidates apart from the statutory retirement age. The Mandatory Retirement Age (as of 10 March 2022) is 75 and therefore we will consider applications from candidates who can offer a reasonable length of service before reaching the retirement age of 75 following recommendation Lord Justice Green was called to the Bar in 1986. He took silk in 1998 and was Chair of the Bar Council in 2010. Lady Justice Whipple takes on a new expanded role as Lead Judge for Diversity & Inclusion, Leadership Development and Wellbeing, following the appointment of Lady Justice Simler to the Supreme Court. She will build on the existing work to encourage greater diversity of people joining the judiciary, improving leadership practices and ensure that judges receive the wellbeing support they need. This role starts with immediate effect.The Queen is pleased to approve the appointment of a Justice of the High Court. This appointment will take effect from 1 February 2021. It is anticipated that further announcements will be made.

This follows a full consultation last year which received over 1000 responses from across the magistracy, judiciary, the legal profession, and other key stakeholder groups. The majority supported raising the age limit to reflect improvements in life expectancy and an increase in cases that need dealing with. Every HM Courts & Tribunals building – including Nightingale Courts - meets the government’s COVID-secure guidelines, and public health experts have confirmed the arrangements remain sufficient to deal with the current strains of the virus. Mr Justice Saini has been appointed to the Western Circuit where he will succeed Mr Justice Garnham.Since April 2006, judicial appointments have been the responsibility of an independent Judicial Appointments Commission. Lord Justice Dingemans was called to the Bar in 1987 and took silk in 2002. He was leading counsel to the Hutton Inquiry (into the death of biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector, David Kelly, in Iraq) in 2003 and acted for the Express and Star newspapers in the Leveson Inquiry in 2011-2012. Rowena Collins Rice, aged 60 will be known as The Honourable Mrs Justice Collins Rice. She was Admitted to the Roll in 1995. She was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2017. Raising the retirement age will mean we can retain their invaluable experience, while ensuring that judicial roles are open to a wider pool of talent.

Peach – An Independent Scrutiny of the Appointment Process of Judges and Queen’s Counsel in England and Wales (London, 1999) Nightingale Courts are now up and running – the Nightingale programme has provided 50 courtrooms across the estate which enables more crime work to be dealt with. The Lady Chief Justice is pleased to announce the appointment of three new leadership judges. These roles are the Deputy Senior Presiding Judge, Vice President of the King’s Bench Division and Lead Judge for Diversity & Inclusion, Leadership Development and Wellbeing. Deputy Senior Presiding Judge The Lord Chief Justice, with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor, has announced the appointment of three Presiding Judges.Malleson & Russell (ed), Appointing Judges in an Age of Judicial Power: Critical Perspectives from around the World, (University of Toronto Press) (2006) He will take up appointment on 1 October 2020 consequential to the elevation of Lord Justice Baker. The candidates approved as High Court Judge judges are His Honour Judge Mark Wall, Her Honour Judge Mary Stacey, Nigel Poole QC, Charles Bourne QC, Rowena Collins Rice and Kelyn Bacon QC. She will take up appointment on 1 October 2020 consequential to the retirement of Mr Justice Supperstone.