Commentary on Sections Schedule 13: Judicial appointments Part 5: Selection of Lord Chief Justice and Heads of Division: transitory Provision
393.Paragraph 82 temporarily amends the CRA to provide an amended selection process for appointments of the Lord Chief Justice or a Head of Division. This will allow the next Lord Chief Justice to be selected using a new selection process. These transitory provisions also provide a new selection process for a Head of Division should the next Lord Chief Justice be an existing Head of Division. Section 71 of the CRA currently provides that the panel for the selection of the Lord Chief Justice and Heads of Division is comprised of four persons and chaired by the most senior England and Wales Supreme Court judge, who has an additional casting vote in the event of a tie. As provided for by the temporary new section 71(2) and 71(3) of the CRA as inserted by paragraph 82(3) of Schedule 13, under the new process for the selection of a Lord Chief Justice there will be a five member panel chaired by a lay commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission. For Heads of Division, new sections 71A(2) and 71A(3) as inserted by paragraph 82(3) of Schedule 13 provide that the selection panel will comprise five members and be chaired by the Lord Chief Justice. Furthermore, new section 70(2A)(a) of the CRA, inserted by paragraph 82(2) of Schedule 13, will require the Lord Chancellor to be consulted as part of the processes for selecting Heads of Division and the Lord Chief Justice. In the case of the selection of the Lord Chief Justice, new section 70(2A)(b) as inserted by paragraph 82(2) of Schedule 13 requires the First Minister for Wales to be consulted as well as the Lord Chancellor. New section 94C of the CRA as inserted by paragraph 53 of Schedule 13 provides for these selection processes in future to be set out in secondary legislation. Following the completion of the selection exercise for the next Lord Chief Justice and the making of the secondary legislation under new section 94C this transitory provision will be removed by virtue of paragraph 81 and cease to have effect.