Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023

Interpretation

2. (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1961” means the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 ;

“Act of 1995” means the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995 ;

“Act of 2001” means the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 ;

“Act of 2014” means the Companies Act 2014 ;

“Act of 2018” means the Data Protection Act 2018 ;

“applicant” means a person who makes an application under section 43 ;

“Assembly of State Parties” means the Assembly of State Parties established under Article 112 of the Rome Statute;

“chairperson”, other than in section 23 , means the chairperson of the Commission;

“Commission” has the meaning assigned to it by section 8 (1);

“committee” means a committee of the Commission established under section 16 ;

“Committee of Ministers” means the Committee of Ministers established by Article 10(i) of the Statute of the Council of Europe done at London on the 5th day of May 1949;

“Data Protection Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 20161 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

“Director” has the meaning assigned to it by section 36 (1);

“diversity statement” means a diversity statement that stands published under section 28 ;

“eligible person” shall be construed in accordance with section 40 ;

“establishment day” shall be construed in accordance with section 7 ;

“European Convention on Human Rights” means the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms done at Rome on the 4th day of November 1950, as amended by—

(a) Protocol No.11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms done at Strasbourg on 11 May 1994,

(b) Protocol No.14 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms done at Strasbourg on 13 May 2004, and

(c) Protocol No.15 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms done at Strasbourg on 24 June 2013;

“European Court of Human Rights” means the Court established under Article 19 of the European Convention on Human Rights;

“International Criminal Court” means the Court established under Article 1 of the Rome Statute;

“judicial office” means the office of—

(a) Chief Justice,

(b) the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the President of the Circuit Court or the President of the District Court,

(c) an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal, an ordinary judge of the High Court or an ordinary judge of the Circuit Court,

(d) a specialist judge of the Circuit Court,

(e) a judge of the District Court,

(f) a judge of the Court of Justice,

(g) an Advocate-General of the Court of Justice,

(h) a judge of the General Court,

(i) a judge of the European Court of Human Rights, or

(j) a judge of the International Criminal Court;

“judicial office in the State” means the office of—

(a) Chief Justice,

(b) the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the President of the Circuit Court or the President of the District Court,

(c) an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal, an ordinary judge of the High Court or an ordinary judge of the Circuit Court,

(d) a specialist judge of the Circuit Court, or

(e) a judge of the District Court;

“judicial office outside the State” means the office of—

(a) a judge of the Court of Justice,

(b) an Advocate-General of the Court of Justice,

(c) a judge of the General Court,

(d) a judge of the European Court of Human Rights, or

(e) a judge of the International Criminal Court;

“judicial selection statement” has the meaning assigned to it by section 57 (1);

“law officer” means a person employed in the service of the State where a condition for the employment of the person was that he or she was a practising barrister or a practising solicitor;

“lay member” means a lay person who is a member of the Commission;

“lay person” means a person who—

(a) does not hold, and has never held, judicial office,

(b) is not and never has been the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chief State Solicitor or a law officer,

(c) is not, and in the relevant period specified in subsection (2) for the purposes of this paragraph, was not, a practising barrister or a practising solicitor, and

(d) does not hold or occupy, and has never held or occupied, an office or position in a place outside the State equivalent to an office or position referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) and is not, and in the relevant period specified in subsection (2) for the purposes of this paragraph, was not a solicitor or barrister practising in a jurisdiction outside the State in accordance with the law of that jurisdiction;

“Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“Office” has the meaning assigned to it by section 35 (1);

“personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Regulation;

“practising barrister” has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 ;

“practising solicitor” has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 ;

“processing” has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Regulation;

“requisite knowledge, skills and attributes” means the knowledge, skills, competencies, personal attributes and characteristics that a person must possess in order that he or she may be considered to be suitable for recommendation for appointment, or for nomination for appointment or election, to judicial office;

“Rome Statute” means the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court done at Rome on 17 July 1998;

“special categories of personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2018;

“statement of requisite knowledge, skills and attributes” means the statement of requisite knowledge, skills and attributes which stands adopted by the Commission under section 57 ;

““statement of selection procedures” means the statement of selection procedures which stands adopted by the Commission under section 57 ;

“TFEU” means the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

“vetting disclosure” has the same meaning as it has in the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 .

(2) The relevant period for the purposes of paragraphs (c) and (d) of the definition of “lay person” in subsection (1) is the period of 5 years immediately preceding the latest date on which the person may apply to participate in a selection process held by the Public Appointments Service under section 13 (1).

1 OJ No. L 119, 4.5.2016, p.1