Ministry of Justice

The Role

The Judicial College is one of the largest areas of the Judicial Office, with one third of our staff employed there and with the largest portion of our budget.  Its purpose is to strengthen the rule of law and improve the administration of justice, through the delivery of essential training for the judiciary in courts and tribunals, including a framework of training for volunteer magistrates.

The principal role of the Judicial College is to support the Lady Chief Justice, the Senior President of Tribunals and the Chief Coroner in fulfilling their responsibilities for training judicial office holders in an ever-evolving justice system. Working through the College Board, Judicial College officials support these senior members of the judiciary in setting the direction for training. Our teams also ensure the right support is in place to provide advice on the design, delivery and evaluation of training, increasingly develop innovative digital systems to support delivery and ensure the smooth running of all training around the country whether delivered digitally or at a variety of face-to-face venues. This will be an exciting time to lead the College as it will form a critical part of the reform of the courts arising from the recent Gauke and Leveson reviews as well as ensuring that essential and timely training is provided to judges as a result of the government’s legislative programme, policy changes.

The role holder will be a member of the Judicial Office Management Board led by the Chief Executive. The other four DDs in the organisation are also members of the Board and it is responsible for setting the strategic direction, leading all of its people as well as managing the organisation’s overall financial position.

The role holder will also be a member of the College Board, chaired by a Court of Appeal Judge and including senior judicial representatives from across jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

Oversee the effective delivery of a large-scale training programme of around 2,000 courses per year to approximately 24,000 full- and part-time judicial office holders (across courts and tribunals judges, tribunal members, magistrates, legal advisers, coroners and coroners’ officers).

Working in partnership with the College Judiciary, support the enhancement of existing training and the development of new training resources, employing innovative training delivery methods through working closely with education and digital experts (both within the College and externally) to ensure the continuing relevance, quality, fitness for purpose and accessibility of judicial training.

Work closely with three Directors of Training (Judicial Office Holders), the Chair of the College Board and (as appropriate) the Judicial Executive Board to assist in setting the direction of training for all judicial office holders and fostering an inclusive training environment for all

Work collaboratively with the rest of the Judicial Office to ensure high quality financial management of a budget around £15m, with an ability to negotiate with MOJ as our sponsor dept and other departments for sufficient funding for the College.

Lead around 150 staff across three main locations, as well as regionally based staff - direct line management of four Grade 6s

Support the effective governance of the Judicial College, through the Board, advising on the strategy for training the judiciary. This will include anticipating and timely planning for changes in the demand profile (through active collaboration with the JAC and wider departments and bodies to anticipate legislative, policy and/or societal changes having an impact on judicial training).

Oversee College strategies and advise the lead international training judge on the Judicial College’s international activities to promote the rule of law, to actively participate and learn from the College’s international judicial training network and support the aims of the LCJ’s International Strategy.

Act as a collaborative and constructive member of JOMB the judicial Office leadership team role modelling creating trust and working in partnership across the organisation.