HONG KONG BAR ASSOCIATION
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position by promotion within the judicial hierarchy
We must never allow that
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to happen in England." Lord Justice Denning. (The Road to Justice)
Again as Sir Leslie Scarman, Chairman of the Law Commission states (Vol.30 No.1 Modern Law Review p.1):
"Who are these men, entrusted as they are
with tremendous responsibilities, yet permitted almost complete freedom of choice as to the manner in which they will discharge them? How are they appointed? What is the judicial system within which they operate?
There is no professional career. The judges are drawn from the small profession of the Bar, the practising members of which number only slightly more than two thousand. A man comes to the judicial bench after successful practice as a barrister. A necessary qualification for a High Court judge is that he must be a barrister of at least ten years' standing. Upon appointment he retains his close relationship with the Bar through his membership of one of the Four Inns of Court, who alone have the right to call men and women to the Bar. Barristers have the exclusive right of audience in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and House of Lords, and in matters of professional discipline are subject to the ultimate control of the judges. Thus, the links between the judges and the Bar are very close indeed.
Suffice it is to say, that over the years the quality of the English judge has not been found to be lacking. It may be that there is much to commend the present system in that it ensures that judges will have had substantial experience as trial lawyers, that they will know the Bar, that the Bar will know them, and that the whole field of choice for appointment to the judicial bench is small enough for the effective scrutiny and assessment by one man The Lord Chancellor who, in effect, appoints them.
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I would emphasise three points: first, a judge does not come to the bench looking for further promotion; judicial office is itself
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