The Supreme Court is seeking to appoint a new justice, but has placed emphasis on the need for diversity. Lady Black of Derwent is due to retire on 10 January 2021, and the court has encouraged ‘the widest range of applicants eligible to apply’ to improve diversity among decision makers.
The court has provided an information pack for candidates, saying that the court:
‘particularly encourages applications from those who would increase the diversity of the court, bearing in mind that Lady Black’s retirement will leave the court with only one female justice and without any from a black or Asian ethnic background’.
The court also said that while selection will be based on merit:
‘if the commission considers two persons to be of equal merit, it may prefer one of them over the other for the purpose of increasing diversity within the court’.
The current annual salary for a Supreme Court justice is £230,717 and Applicants for a position as a Supreme Court justice must have held high judicial office for at least two years. Otherwise, they may have been in legal practice for 15 years, or meet the judicial-appointment eligibility requirement on a 15-year basis. While there is no lower age limit, Supreme Court justices must retire at the age of 70.
The short-list for the position is scheduled for the second week of December with interviews are scheduled for 21 December.