Mr. Liam Herrick:

As I said the outset, in preparing the submission we made to the committee in March, we looked to a number of international standards. These were specifically: UN basic principles on the independence of the Judiciary; the Council of Europe recommendation on the independence, efficiency and the role of judges, the European Charter on the statute for judges; and the principles on the independence and accountability of judges set out by the International Commission of Jurists, a well-regarded international non-governmental organisation. We drew from those, so when we talk about best practice we are talking about existing standards. To give examples, the UN basic principles refer to standards applying to the promotion and careers of judges, as well as their appointments being better dealt with by a selection body, at least half the membership of which should comprise members of the judiciary. There is also reference in some of the standards to a preference for the judicial members of such a body to be elected by their peers. That is where we are drawing it from. As the Deputy knows, any recommendations we bring before the committee on any matter will be grounded on, and derived from, international standards.