UK Supreme Court proposes joint selection exercises to replace retiring justices

Lord Toulson reaches his statutory retirement age this September and a further five vacancies for Supreme Court Justices are due to arise before the end of 2018.

In order to encourage the broadest and most diverse range of applications and achieve the most efficient process for candidates and the independent Selection Commission, the court proposes that recruitment for these vacancies will be grouped together in joint selection exercises to take place over the next two years.

The grouping and chronology of these independent selection exercises will be decided in consultation between the Lord Chancellor and the Supreme Court, and announced in due course. However, the vacancy created by Lord Toulson’s retirement from sitting full time will not be filled immediately.

Lord Toulson has indicated he will be willing to join the Supplementary Panel and it is envisaged that he will be invited to sit on an ad hoc basis from October. Lord Dyson will also be joining the Supplementary Panel, on his forthcoming retirement as Master of the Rolls.

Once convened, the Selection Commission will determine detailed arrangements for the selection processes, while also bearing in mind relevant recommendations made by the Court’s former chief executive Jenny Rowe in her report of July 2015.