District Judge Katie Thomas, who is challenging aspects of the Judicial Appointments Commission’s decision not to recommend her for appointment as a circuit judge, has been given permission to proceed with a judicial review
DJ Thomas argues that candidates should be told of adverse comments made about them by consultees during the selection process.
Allowing DJ Thomas’s appeal last week in R (on the application of Thomas) v Judicial Appointments Commission [2024] EWCA Civ 665, Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, said: ‘I have borne in mind the importance of this case and the public interest in maintaining a scrupulously fair and transparent judicial appointment process… There needs to be complete public confidence in it.
‘It is better, therefore, for these challenges to be considered at a full hearing.’
He directed that a two-day hearing be arranged for the Michaelmas term 2024.
DJ Thomas, a criminal barrister who sits as a salaried district judge in Walsall County Court, applied to become a circuit judge in 2021.
