Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

I support the Government on this matter. I do not believe there should be a ceiling for legal executives. I appreciate that it will be very difficult for them to qualify for appointment to a higher judicial role. However, an awful lot of them have not had the opportunities that others have had to qualify as solicitors and barristers, yet they have advanced in the legal profession through the Institute of Legal Executives and its examinations. If they are thought suitable for appointment as a chairman of a tribunal or a district judge and show in that capacity that they have the talent and the intellectual capacity to go further, there should be no barrier to them. I am sure that the Judicial Appointments Commission would take their background into account when making appointments, but it might include a much wider social background that would be of great assistance in the role that the legal executives seek to fulfil. As the noble Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, has said, I have no doubt that, before they ever achieved a higher position as a judge, they would be required to sit as recorders and part-time judges to be tested to see whether they are fit for a full-time role. But no ceilings, please.