What We Do
NIJAC was established on 15 June 2005 as an independent public body under the Justice (NI) Acts 2002 & 2004.
However, the devolution of policing and justice on 12 April 2010 made changes to the Northern Ireland Act (2009) and extended our statutory duties further.
We continue to select people for judicial office on merit through fair and open competition and by selecting from the widest possible range of applicants.
We still select and make recommendations for Crown appointments to the Queen via the Lord Chancellor, up to and including High Court Judge.
However, we are now also an appointing body, selecting, appointing and re-appointing to Non-Crown Judicial Offices (i.e. mainly fee paid offices in various courts and tribunals).
We also now have the power to determine non-pecuniary aspects of terms and conditions for those judicial offices whose terms are not set by the Lord Chancellor and we have joint responsibility with the Department of Justice for the agreeing judicial complement and succession planning.
Devolution also meant that our sponsoring department changed from the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Service to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMdFM) to whom we are now accountable for our finanical and governance arrangements.
For a full list of the judicial offices we are responsible for, please see the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 Schedule 1 (Section 2) - Listed Judicial Offices (PDF 26 KB).
Key Roles
NIJAC has five key roles:
- To conduct the appointments process and select and appoint, or select and make recommendations for appointment, in respect of all listed judicial appointments up to, and including, High Court Judge.
- To recommend individuals solely on the basis of merit.
- To engage in a programme of action to secure, so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so, that appointments or recommendations for appointment to judicial office are reflective of the community in Northern Ireland.
- To engage in a programme of action to secure, so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so, that a range of persons reflective of the community in Northern Ireland is available for consideration by the Commission whenever it is required to appoint a person, or recommend a person for appointment, to a listed judicial office.
- To publish an annual report setting out the activities and accounts for the past year.
Our core business is running recruitment schemes for judicial office – for legal, professional and lay members – a total of 685 judicial officers as at 1 January 2011.
Since our inception in 2005, we have recommended 224 people across 37 recruitment campaigns: 78 legally qualified, 24 medically qualified and 122 other members for appointment to judicial office. We have also overseen 504 re-appointments to judicial office during this time.
These figures are accurate as at 1 January 2011.
NIJAC staff are responsible for the management and development of the following areas of work:
The Assessment & Selection Process
Ensuring all aspects of the assessment & selection process is compliant with employment legislation and adopting Human Resources best practice to enhance public confidence in the appointment of judicial office holders in Northern Ireland.
Diversity and Communications
Ensuring that the assessment & selection process is communicated to the widest possible pool of potential applicants and that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of the gender, marital status, race, age, sexual orientation, community background, disability, dependant responsibilities or political opinion.
Governance of NIJAC
Ensuring that all accountability functions of NIJAC (both financial and legal) are carried out in a professional manner and that all statutory responsibilities are fulfilled.
