England: District judge loses legal bid to establish ‘worker’ status

Judge Claire Gilham, whose case against the Ministry of Justice failed at the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, has had it dismissed again.

Lord Justice Underhill, sitting with Lady Justice Gloster and Lord Justice Singh, stated that “judges are in fact in a unique position and have many protections, for fundamental constitutional reasons, which no one else does. For example they have security of tenure until the statutory retirement age. This means that, unlike most workers, they cannot be made redundant.

“The grounds on which district judges can be removed from office are very limited, in particular misconduct, and removal requires the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice.”