The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) (external link) will be launching a selection exercise in May to recruit 70 District Judges (50 immediate and 20 future appointments).
The work of District Judges involves a wide spectrum of civil and family law cases such as claims for damages, possession proceedings, divorces, child proceedings, emergency applications for injunctions, committals and insolvency proceedings. Those appearing before District Judges range from King’s Counsel to litigants in person unable to read or write. This means the work that District Judges do has a significant, vital, and lasting impact on the lives of a large number of people, many of them disadvantaged and vulnerable.
The seminarThe Judicial Office is organising a pre-application seminar that will take place online via Microsoft Teams on Thursday 23 April 2026 from 5pm to 6.15pm.
The seminar aims to help applicants be better prepared to make an application and to receive up-to-date guidance and advice on the JAC’s selection process. As well as the JAC, you will also hear fromleadership judges andcurrent serving District Judges.
Who should attend?Applications are particularly welcome from under-represented groups (women, ethnic minority candidates, disabled candidates, solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives).
Training is provided for all appointed.
For more information on the role, see the District Judges webpage.
Case studiesFind out first-hand what it’s like being a District Judge on these YouTube pages:
Hear from District Judge Greenidge (external link) Hear from District Judge Worth (external link) Further informationTo find out more, visit the JAC’s vacancy listing page (external link).
For any queries regarding the recruitment campaign/selection exercise, please contact the JAC selection exercise team: DJ334@judicialappointments.gov.uk
You can sign-up to alerts for this exercise (external link).
For any queries regarding the pre-application seminar please email: JudicialHROutreachEvents@judiciary.uk
Although there will be a Q&A segment, you can also send any early questions that can be put to the panel. Please send early questions to judicialhroutreachevents@judiciary.uk and ensure that the subject title is “Question for DJ Panel”.
Please note that although the Judicial Office will be running the pre-application seminar, the actual recruitment campaign is being done and led by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
To register for the seminar, visit the Judicial Careers website.
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seen at 12:00, 25 March in Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.