Fee-Paid Legal Member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales

Information Pack
0017 / Fee-paid Legal Member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales

Contents

1IntroductionPage 3

2Requirements for AppointmentPage 4

3Selection ProcessPage 7

4Further Information and ContactsPage 12

1Introduction

The Judicial Appointments Commission(JAC)[1] is now inviting applications for the following position:

Fee-paid Legal Member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales.

There are three vacancies for immediate appointment and one vacancy to be on a reserve list for later appointment should the need arise within a period of 18 months.

The closing date for applications is noon on 13 August 2015

This pack contains the information that you need about the vacancy. It describes the selection process that the JAC will apply, with relevant dates and advice on how to prepare for the various stages of this process.

Before you can be considered for appointment, there are eligibility requirements that you must meet. These are set out at 2.1.

1.1Overview of the role

The Adjudication Panel for Wales (APW) was established under Part III of the Local Government Act 2000. This appointment presents an important opportunity to contribute to the work of a small, independent tribunal. The Panel has two statutory functions, to form ‘case’ tribunals to consider reports from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales following investigations of allegations that members failed to comply with their authority’s code of conduct and to consider appeals by members against a determination of a breach of their authority’s standards committee code of conduct.

Tribunal hearings are composed of a panel of three tribunal members, one of whom is a Legal Member and will chair the hearing and two Non-Legal Members with relevant experience and knowledge. Further information is available on the website for the Tribunal:

The current President of the Adjudication Panel for Wales will shortly complete his term of office. Hence the JAC has been instructed to carry out recruitment and selection following its judicial appointments process for the position of President for the APW. It is anticipated that the recruitment exercise for this position will commence towards the end of this calendar year. The President must be appointed from the members of the APW. Whilst it is for the Welsh Ministers to set the qualifications required for this appointment, it has previously been the case that the appointment of tribunal President is made from amongst the legal members of the Tribunal.

Appointed persons will adjudicate on references made by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales against decisions made by standard committees under Sections 71(3) and 72(4) of the Local Government Act 2000 about whether local authority members have breached the local authorities statutory code of conduct and appeals under Paragraph 10 of the Local Government Investigations (Functions of Monitoring Officers and Standards Committees)(Wales) Regulations SI 2001 No.2281.

The main activities for the role include:

• reading and assimilating papers in a case before it commences, processing information from extensive paperwork set in the context of legal issues;
• reviewing decisions under appeal and references made by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, leading on the examination of the facts and evidence presented, and coming to a determination as a panel on whether there has been a breach of the code of conduct and if required the appropriate sanctions;
• chairing tribunal hearings and leading the questioning of witnesses;
• demonstrating sound knowledge of the key issues including knowledge of papers and relevant legislation;
• giving guidance and directions to panel members;
• maintaining the authority and dignity of the tribunal at all times;
• taking adequate notes, making an accurate record of the tribunal’s findings of fact and agreeing the decision and reasons and producing the tribunal’s written decision;
• attending induction training and further annual training conferences and keeping up to date with relevant legislation, case law and developments.

Although there will be no guarantee of a minimum number of sitting days, the post holder will usually be required to make himself or herself available for approximately five days per annum for APW appointments. This figure may vary in accordance with business needs and will change from time to time. Minimum and maximum numbers of sitting days will be reviewed at least annually and will be notified to the post holder where they vary from this expectation.

The current daily fee is £406.

A statement relating to the terms and conditions, along with the job description for this post can be found on our website.

2.Requirements for appointment

2.1Eligibility Requirements

Please be aware that for these exercises the Commission only considers eligibility for shortlisted candidates. You should carefully consider whether you are likely to be eligible before applying.

As a legal member of the APW the Welsh Ministers require that candidates must be:

a)a person who satisfies the ‘judicial-appointment eligibility condition[2] on a 5-year basis; or

b)a person who is an advocate or solicitor in Scotland of at least 5 years standing; or

c)a person who is a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland or solicitor of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland of at least 5 years standing; or

d)a person who has held judicial office.

Additional Selection Criteria

In addition to the above Welsh Ministers require that candidates must also:

• have knowledge of the law providing for statutory standards of conduct in local authorities in Wales and experience of applying the law.

A person is not eligible for appointment if they are a member of current staff for the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

Judicial Appointment Eligibility Condition

To satisfy the ‘judicial-appointment eligibility condition’ applicants must also show that:

• that they have possessed the relevant legal qualification;
• for the requisite period; and
• that whilst holding that qualification they have been gaining legal experience[3].

Relevant legal qualification

The relevant legal qualification to meet requirements for appointment is defined as follows:

1. A solicitor (or a salaried judicial office holder who was formerly a solicitor).

1. You will be considered eligible as a barrister a) when you have completed pupillage in connection with becoming a barrister or b) if you were not required to undertake a pupillage in connection with becoming a barrister when you were called to the Bar of England and Wales. Where the person was not required to undertake pupillage they will need to provide details in the application form of why they were not. This is most likely to be because they were called to the Bar prior to 1 January 2002. If they were called to the Bar after this date they will only be eligible if they have completed or have been exempted from pupillage by the Bar Standards Board. If they have been exempted from pupillage they will be required to provide evidence of this by the time applications close, otherwise they will not be eligible to proceed.

Relevant legal experience

The relevant legal experience to meet requirements for appointment is as follows:

• To be eligible for judicial appointment candidates must not only be in possession of the relevant legal qualification for the requisite period but must also have been engaged in ‘law related activity’ whilst holding that qualification.

• An activity is considered to be a law related activity whether or not it is undertaken for remuneration and whether or not it is undertaken on a full or part-time basis.

• Each of the following is a relevant law related activity:

a) the carrying out of judicial functions of any court or tribunal;

b) acting as an arbitrator;

c) practice or employment as a lawyer;

d) advising (whether or not in the course of practice or employment as a lawyer) on the application of the law;

e) assisting (whether or not in the course of such practice) persons involved in proceedings for the resolution of issues arising under the law;

f) acting (whether or not in the course of such practice) as mediator in connection with attempts to resolve issues that are, or if not resolved could be, the subject of proceedings;

g) drafting (whether or not in the course of such practice) documents intended to affect persons’ rights or obligations;

h) teaching or researching law; or

i) any activity that in the relevant decision makers’ opinion (this means the Appropriate Authority or his delegated official) is of a broadly similar nature to an activity within paragraphs a) to h).

• Service as a Magistrate is not considered to be demonstrative of gaining experience in the law or as equivalent to previous judicial experience.

Requisite time period

The requisite time period for the legal qualification is to be measured as follows:

• The requisite 5-year time period for the legal qualification is measured by the Judicial Appointments Commission from the start date of the legal qualification to the date recommendations are made to the Appropriate Authority. This is expected to be by the end of January 2016.

2.2Additional Requirements

Age

At present, there is no upper or lower age limit for candidates. However, the Welsh

Government is considering introducing an upper age limit of 70 years for judicial

appointments. If the policy is introduced before selections then this is the age limit

at which candidates will be considered. In which case the age at which someone is

appointed to these positions must allow for a reasonable length of service before

reaching 70 years, which for this position will be 4 years.

Welsh Language

The ability to conduct proceedings fluently in Welsh is essential for twoposts for immediate appointment and desirable but not essential for the other posts. In the latter case, Welsh language competence will not contribute to the assessment of merit.

Travel

The Tribunal’s administrative centre is located in Llandrindod Wells. Tribunal hearings are conducted across all regions of Wales, candidates must be available to hear cases and travel independently throughout Wales and be able to stay overnight where necessary.

2.3Nationality

You must complete a declaration of your nationality in the application form. In order to qualify for this post you must be a citizen of:

• United Kingdom; or
• another Commonwealth country; or
• the Republic of Ireland.

You must satisfy the nationality requirements by the time we close the exercise for applications.

3.The selection process

3.1Correspondence

You are asked to indicate on the application form whether you are prepared to receive correspondence via email throughout the exercise. Please note that should you be successful, this email address will additionally be shared with the Tribunal Secretariat to enable them to contact you for appointment purposes.

3.2Timetable

Closing dates for applications / Noon 13 August 2015
Provisional dates for interview days / 21 – 23 October 2015

Application forms received after the closing date will not be considered.

3.3The application form

The application form plays an important part in the selection process. You should complete all sections of the form, ensuring the information you provide is clear and accurate.

The self assessment

When completing the self assessment part of the application form please be concise as any information in excess of 250 words in each box will not be used to support your application. Note form is acceptable.

In preparing your self assessment it is important to remember that this is a critical part of your application. Please look at the qualities and abilities required for this post. All candidates are measured against the evidence they provide for each of the qualities and abilities.

This assessment is your opportunity to provide detailed examples from your career history. It should explain how you demonstrate the qualities and abilities and not simply be a re-iteration of your career history or a list of your jobs/positions held.

You should consider the following:

• Make sure that you provide specific examples that demonstrate how your skills match the qualities and abilities sought at the level appropriate for the role for which you are applying. It is not sufficient to talk generally about a situation and what happened. We need to know specifically what the situation was, your task and the result.

• Be clear and explicit when writing your examples so that there is no room for doubt about how you personally have tackled something. Do not assume that the person reading your form will be able to infer, from your description, what your role was and what specifically you were responsible for.

• Keep your examples concise and to the point. It is important that the focus is on you, your actions and your responsibilities, not the situation as a whole.

• If when completing your self-assessment, your text is within the word limit but fills more than the space provided, all your text will be saved and your full response will be received by the JAC.

Obtaining an application form

The application form can be obtained electronically from

If you need the form, information pack or other information in a different format for example Braille, please contact us using the details below.

These forms are also available in Welsh on the JAC website.

Reference: 0017

Email:

Telephone: 0203 334 6185

Shortlisting

The first stage in the selection process is a paper sift. A sift panel, consisting of a JAC panel chair, a judicial member and an independent lay member will consider the information provided in your application form and any references received.

Individual feedback will be provided to candidates who have not been successful following the sift. For this exercise we will aim to respond to your request within 20 working days.

3.4Referees

References are required before the sift takes place and the material they provide will inform decisions throughout the selection process.

References fall into two categories – Professional and Personal.

Referees should be people who are well placed to comment on how you meet the qualities and abilities. You should ask your referees to review guidance contained within the reference form which provides information on what should be included within a reference. They should provide specific examples that demonstrates how your skills match the qualities and abilities for this role.

The JAC will contact your professional referee directly via email on 20August so please provide an accurate email address.

It is your responsibility to contact your personal referee. The JAC advises that you contact your personal referee directly after the closing date for applications. The deadline for return of all completed reference forms is noonon 4 September. The relevant form can be obtained electronically by downloading it from the JAC website.

Please advise your referees that the preferred method of return is via email – hard copy returns will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

Professional referees

Your professional referee should normally be your current line manager, or nearest equivalent relevant to your line of work. If you are a sole Practitioner, somebody who has a direct knowledge of the work you do.

Please ensure you provide the name, title, position and address of your relevant professional referee, including an accurate email address.

If you do not wish us to approach the relevant professional referee now, please contact the JAC to discuss an alternative referee who is familiar with your work and who can be contacted now.

Personal referees

Your personal referee should have direct knowledge of the professional or voluntary work you do. This can be someone you work for, with, or on behalf of.

You must ask your referees to e-mail their reference direct to the JAC at

Please ask them to include the selection exercise number and name, together with your name in the subject line. The JAC is not responsible for contacting your personal referee.

Conflicts of interest

We strongly recommend that you check with all of your referees that they do not have a conflict of interest in this exercise and that they are able and content to support you within the required timescale. You should not nominate an individual who you know to be a candidate within the exercise as a referee.

The JAC Commissioners are listed on the JAC website. Do not nominate a Commissioner as a referee. You should also state in the application form if you are in any way related to or known by any of the Commissioners and give details.

3.5Statutory consultation

The JAC will consult with a person who has held the office in question or has other relevant experience (other than the Appropriate Authority). For this exercise the consultee will be confirmed shortly. The information provided by him/her will be used to inform selection decisions.

3.6Selection day

If you are shortlisted you will be invited to a selection day. The selection day for this exercise will comprise of a panel interview and situational questions.

Further details will be sent with any invitation to attend. The interview will consist of the panel seeking evidence from you against the qualities and abilities for the post. The overall assessment made by the panel is provided to the Commissioners when they make their selection decisions.