LCD 'pleased' with judge ads response

THE LORD Chancellor has received 250 applications for positions of district judge from lawyers answering the first ever judicial advertisements in the UK.

Another 50 applications for the job of circuit judge on the North Eastern, Wales and Chester and Western circuits have also been received as a result of the advertising campaign.

A spokesman for the Lord Chancellor's Department says: "We are pleased with the response to the advertisements."

The judge advertisements form part of the developments in the judicial appointments procedures announced by Lord Mackay on 26 July.

They appeared in national newspapers including The Times and The Guardian and a number of legal journals.

The spokesman says that although the closing date for applications has passed, it is still possible that numbers could rise through late applications.

* Lord Mackay last week opened the new Central London Country Courthouse. The court hears cases lasting more than one day, referred from the 12 other London county courts and has a Business List for specialist handling of commercial disputes.