Overview of the Judicial Office

The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ). It was established in 2006 to provide support to the LCJ and to the wider judiciary in upholding the rule of law and in delivering justice impartially, speedily and efficiently, following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work closely with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions.

We are an Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. This creates an interesting and complex environment in which to work where we agree our priorities with the senior judiciary and receive our funding to deliver them from the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial Office has been through a period of significant growth resulting from an expansion of our remit and responsibilities.

See JO staff talk about working here: https://design102.wistia.com/medias/uhgtmbtnlv

Overview of the JCIO

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) is part of the Judicial Office. We support the Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice in their joint responsibility for judicial discipline.

We deal with complaints about the personal conduct of judicial office-holders. Our role is to assess complaints to determine whether they are within our remit and, if so, to take the appropriate action. This involves rejecting the significant number of complaints that fall outside of our remit and dismissing those that, after making enquires or listening to audio recordings, must be dismissed for various reasons. For complaints that involve substantiated allegations of misconduct, we present the information we have gathered to the senior judges, lay people and officials who have statutory roles within the conduct process, to assist them to make decisions and provide advice on individual complaints. Our work is governed by The Judicial Conduct Rules 2023. This and other information related to the JCIO’s work can be found at: https://www.complaints.judicialconduct.gov.uk/

We would like to recruit a senior business support and casework officer to join our hardworking and committed team, based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. In addition to assessing and managing an ongoing caseload, you will manage three EO member of staff and oversee the business support functions within the JCIO. You will also have the opportunity to become involved in a range of projects across the team and the wider Judicial Office.

You will need to be an effective leader and communicator, with management experience. You will be able to relay information in a professional manner, so it is easily understood. You should have an eye for detail and be able to apply a set of rules to assess whether a complaint contains an allegation of potential misconduct and determine the next appropriate step in the process. You will be able to work well independently but also with others. You will manage the business support functions within the JCIO. In return, you will be assisted to learn and develop within a supportive and friendly team.

The Role

As a senior business support & casework officer in the JCIO your duties will include:

• Overseeing business support functions, including reporting to the Judicial Office finance team on expenditure against budget and leading on reasonable adjustment requests.

• Line management of two EO Hybrid Business Support Caseworkers and one EO Caseworker, including reviewing draft correspondence and providing guidance where required.

• Carrying out senior level casework on complaints, proactively managing your own caseload and working with other managers to ensure delivery of the team’s work.

• Showing leadership in the team and promoting positivity and professionalism.

• Working to the JCIO internal KPIs ensuring all parties are kept updated throughout the process.

• Drafting advice on complaints for the Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice.

• Producing statistical reports about performance against targets.

• Supporting senior casework managers with a range of work when needed.

• Leading on/contributing to projects which support delivery of the JCIO business plan.

Key Requirements

Essential

• Strong leadership, including willingness to actively contribute to team meetings and management discussions.

• Excellent analytical ability and attention to detail

• Recent management experience.

• Experience of drafting to a high standard.

• Ability to manage a varied workload and reprioritise to meet competing demands.

• While the successful candidate will not be required to have prior knowledge of the judicial disciplinary system, a willingness to proactively work to acquire that knowledge is essential.

• Experience working with Microsoft systems, including co-pilot.

Desirable

• Finance experience, such as budget planning, purchase orders, travel and expense claims.

• Basic knowledge of the judicial system

• Experience of drafting for senior judges and/or senior officials.

• Experience of managing reasonable adjustment requests.

• Understanding and Knowledge of Data handling, including SAR requests and ministerial correspondence.

You will be required to provide evidence of the following behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace

• Managing a Quality Service

• Communicating and influencing

• Making Effective Decisions

If you are successful for interview, please note you will also be tested on strength questions at this stage.

Should we receive a large number of applications we will conduct an initial sift on the lead behaviour of Delivery at Pace.

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The JCIO follows the Judicial Office hybrid working approach, which requires a presence in the office at least 60% of working hours. While working from home on some days is not mandatory, most team members choose to mix home and office working each week. To meet the needs of the team, we expect everyone to be flexible about which days are worked from home/office each week. This role is not suitable for fulltime homeworking.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact:

Laura Honey - laura.honey@judicialconduct.gov.uk