Why was JABS established?
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland was established on an administrative basis by the Scottish Ministers in 2002.
Its remit was to recommend judicial appointments to the First Minister on merit, promote a judiciary reflective of the communities served, and run recruitment processes efficiently and effectively.
The aim was to create an open and accessible system for judicial appointments in Scotland that could be readily understood and so command the respect of the legal profession and the general public.
After 172 judicial appointments had been recommended by the Board and substantial operational experience had been gained, the Scottish Ministers issued a consultation paper, Strengthening Judicial Independence in a Modern Scotland. This consultation paper detailed the legislation to establish the Board on a statutory basis and when adopted, the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in January 2008 and included provisions to establish the Board on a statutory basis.
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland was established as a statutory advisory Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) on 1st June 2009.
As a result, the Board's responsibilities under the Act include:
a) selecting individuals for a variety of roles to be recommended for appointment based on eligibility and merit;
b) select an individual only when satisfied that the individual is of good character; and
c) subject to the provisions a) and b), the Board must have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of individuals available for selection to be recommended for appointment to a judicial office.
What we do
It is our responsibility and statutory duty to appoint applicants on merit and who are of good character. We strive for a diverse applicant pool that represents the diverse society our judiciary serves and it is our duty to attract eligible candidates on a proactive basis.
JABS is made up of 10 Business Management Unit staff who support the undertaking to develop competitions for selection as a Judge and 16 Board Members, 8 lay and 8 legal/judicial members who are attracting, developing, assessing and feeding back to applicants.
Together, we are consistently reflecting and reviewing our processes to ensure that we are transparent and that we support the justice system in Scotland.