Part 1: Tribunals and Inquiries Schedule 2
57.Paragraph 1(2) provides that a person is eligible for appointment as a judge of the First-tier Tribunal if he has a legal qualification and 5 years’ legal experience since qualifying.
58.But in addition, persons may be appointed if, in the Lord Chancellor’s opinion, they have legal experience which would make them as suitable for appointment as if they had the relevant legal qualifications. This provision, which is based on current eligibility requirements in relation to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the Mental Health Review Tribunal, recognises that in the specialised fields in which tribunals operate, the necessary skills and knowledge may have been acquired by someone who does not have a professional qualification in the United Kingdom, such as a legal academic or someone qualified in a European or Commonwealth jurisdiction.
59.Paragraph 1(1) and 2(1) state that appointed judges and members of the First-tier Tribunal are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. Except where a member of an existing tribunal is transferred into the new tribunals under section 31(2), appointment takes place after selection by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
60.Paragraph 3 provides that appointed and transferred-in judges and other members of the First-tier Tribunal are protected by a prohibition on removal without the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, or if appropriate, the Lord President of the Court of Session or Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
61.Paragraph 4 ensures that appointed and transferred-in judges and other members of the First-tier Tribunal who are appointed on a salaried as opposed to a fee paid basis have the further protection of a provision that they may be only removed by the Lord Chancellor on the ground of inability or misbehaviour.
62.Both paragraphs 3 and 4 are intended to safeguard the independence of the tribunals.
63.Paragraphs 6 and 7 provide for ex-officio judges and members of the First-tier Tribunal. As mentioned above, the judges and members of the First-tier Tribunal will be made up partly of ex officio judges and members, i.e. those who hold office in the new tribunals by virtue of other offices they hold in the courts or tribunals. The deployment of those ex officio judges and members is to be under the control of the Senior President of Tribunals, in conjunction, in the case of judges from the courts, with the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the Lord President of the Court of Session or the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. Part 2 of Schedule 4 deals with the assignment of these judges and members to chambers.
64.Paragraph 8 ensures that the Senior President of Tribunals has responsibility for maintaining arrangements for the training, welfare and guidance of judges and other members of the First-tier Tribunal.
65.Paragraph 9 makes provision for judges and members of the First-tier Tribunal to take the oath of allegiance and the judicial oath before the Senior President of Tribunals, or before an eligible person nominated by the Senior President. The requirement under paragraph 9 does not apply, however, in the case of transferred-in judges or transferred-in other members who have already taken the required oaths after accepting another office. Judges and members who carry out functions mainly or wholly in Northern Ireland may be required to take instead the oath, or the affirmation and declaration, set out in section 19 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002.