It underlines and symbolises the independence of the Judiciary that its members are usually in their fifties when they are selected to serve as judges. In that context, having a retirement age of 70 rather than the usual retirement age of 65 is sensible. If one is selecting people at that stage of their career, one must give them a reasonable run. In any event, the age of 65 was selected as the retirement age in Bismark's Germany because most people did not live much longer. We now live in a world where many people, with a huge amount to contribute, live into their seventies. I am not in favour of mandatory early retirement.