Schedule 13: The Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman Lord Chief Justice and Heads of Division Section 73: The Lord Chancellor’s options
281.When the Lord Chancellor receives the report informing him of the person selected by the panel, he has the options of accepting the selection; rejecting that person and requiring a different name to be put forward; or requiring the selection panel to reconsider its selection. This is stage 1 of the process. If the Lord Chancellor rejects the selection or requires reconsideration, the process moves into stage 2. At this stage the panel puts a name to the Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Chancellor has these options: he may accept the selection; he may reject the selection (but only if he has not already used that power at stage 1); or he may require reconsideration (but only if he has not already used that power at stage 1). If the Lord Chancellor rejects the selection or requires reconsideration, the process moves into stage 3. At this stage the panel again puts a name to the Lord Chancellor. This time he must accept the selection of the latest selected candidate, or of a candidate selected in stage 1 or stage 2 whose name was not resubmitted by the panel after reconsideration, but who has not been rejected.