The Personnel of the Law Judges

The courts of the United Kingdom are the Queen's Courts since the Crown is the historic source of all judicial power. The Queen, acting on the advice of ministers, is responsible for all appointments to the judiciary.

Full-time judges do not engage in politics, except for the Lord Chan­cellor, who is head of the judiciary, speaker of the House of Lords and a Cabinet minister. With the exception of lay magistrates, judges are nor­mally appointed from practising barristers, advocates (in Scotland), or solicitors. Lay magistrates in England and Wales need no legal qualifica­tions but on appointment undergo basic training to give them sufficient knowledge of the law, including the rules of evidence, and to enable them to understand the nature and purpose of sentencing. The Scottish district court justices of the peace likewise need no legal qualifications. In Northern Ireland members of a lay panel who serve in juvenile courts un­dertake training courses; resident magistrates are drawn from practising solicitors or barristers. In certain circumstances (for instance, in cases of misconduct or proven incapacity) judges of the inferior courts may be removed from their positions but, in order to safeguard the independence of the judiciary from the executive, superior judges in England and Wales and Northern Ireland (other than the Lord Chancellor, who changes with the Government) are subject to removal only by the Queen on an address presented by both Houses of Parliament; in Scotland there is no statutory provision for removing judges of the Court of Session or High Court of Justiciary from office and special legislation would probably be needed to secure a dismissal.