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VOL. 87 NO. 2
L A W B R I E F
JULY/AUGUST 1993
By Dr. Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor
Solicitor Appointed to the
High Court
A solicitor,
Michael Sachs,
61, has
made history in the United Kingdom
by becoming the first solicitor to
become a High Court judge appointed
from outside the ranks of the Bar. He
was made a High Court judge on June
18, 1993. Solicitors had been dismayed
that no member of their profession had
been promoted to the High Court
Bench despite legislation two years
ago to end the Bar's monopoly of
senior judicial appointments.
Mr. Justice Sachs had been a circuit
judge since 1984. Former solicitors
make up only a tenth of the five
hundred circuit judges although
solicitors have long been deemed
eligible for the Circuit Bench.
Solicitors were deemed eligible when
circuit judges were created under the
UK
Courts Act, 1971.
They had to
have five years experience as a
recorder so that the first solicitors were
not appointed until 1976.
Recorders are appointed on the
recommendation of the Lord
Chancellor to try criminal cases in the
Crown Court. The Crown Court was
created by the UK
Courts Act, 1971
as
part of the Supreme Court and a
superior court of record. The Crown
Court's jurisdiction in relation to
criminal charges on indictment is
exercised by any High Court judge,
circuit judge or recorder. It may hear
appeals from magistrates' courts and
may sentence persons committed for
sentencing by those courts. Appeal lies
to the Court of Appeal.
The Law Society in London stated that
it hopes that the appointment will be
the first of many. The Society stated
that it was a historic event and richly
deserved. The monopoly of the Bar in
I E
A
Michael Sachs, the first solicitor in
the United Kingdom to he appointed
a High Court Judge.
relation to advocacy rights in the
higher courts and in relation to senior
judicial appointments was ended on
the initiative of Lord Mackay, the Lord
Chancellor, in his legal reforms in the
UK
Courts and Legal Services Act,
1990.
The full impact of these changes
has yet to be felt.
Rituals of the Law: The
Judges' Tipstaff
Many are fascinated by the rituals of
the law. One ritual which catches the
attention of many is the judge of the
High Court and his or her crier or
tipstaff (all gowned with the tipstaff in
possession of his staff) proceeding in
procession from his or her chambers to
the court. For those readers unfamiliar
with this ritual, the staff is a rod used
as a sign of office or authority. The
staff is banged off the ground by the
tipstaff, for example, when the judge
leaves court so that the way can be
prepared for the judge's exit to his or
her chambers. The procession of judge
and tipstaff precipitates an epidemic of
bowing among the barristers and
solicitors in the judge's path. Litigants
simply stare in awe.
Recently the Lord Chancellor's
Department in London advertised
vacancies for clerks to judges in
England and Wales. Readers may be
interested in ascertaining the duties of
the equivalent of our criers or tipstaffs,
the judge's clerk. The person acts as a
personal assistant to the judge, typing
all the judge's official papers and
personal correspondence; collecting
and carrying the judge's books and
papers to and from the Court; helping
the judge to robe, ensuring that the
robes are kept in good order; and to do
other work as the judge may direct.
When on circuit, the judge stays in
judges' lodgings. The clerk will liaise
with the court administration and the
police in order to ensure that the court
in which the clerk will have formal
duties is run as the judge directs. The
clerk is responsible for transport of the
judge's baggage and for the judge's
needs in the lodgings including the
maintenance of household accounts
and liaison with the housekeeper. The
clerk stays in the lodgings free of
charge returning home at weekends.
The most important qualities for a
judge's clerk are loyalty, discretion,
reliability and adaptability. Experience
of court procedure is an asset although
formal training will be given. Judges'
clerks have opportunities for
promotion to higher executive officer
and above and the salary upper limit is
almost £17,000 sterling.
Suspension of Detainee's
Rights Justified
In
Brannigan and McBride
-v-
United
j Kingdom,
the European Court of
I Human Rights in its judgment of May
i 26, 1993 held that the United
I Kingdom's withdrawal from
I observance of certain of its obligations
j under the European Convention of
i
Human Rights satisfied the
j
requirements of article 15 thereof and,
! therefore, applicants complaining of
detention without being brought before
: a court could not validly complain of a
I violation of article 5.3 of the
| Convention. Judge
Brian Walsh
and
three other judges dissented.
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