England: Judicial retirement age ‘should be debated’

The chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission has called on Parliament to “revisit” the statutory retirement age for judges, currently set at 70 years old.

Lord Kakkar told The Times that the issue “clearly needs to be revisited by parliament”.

Lord Kakker said: “There need to be appropriate safeguards in anything one does … there are issues of health, and there must be the opportunity for people to retire.”

However, he added: “This needs to be done in a rational way, it needs proper debate but at the end of the day we need to secure and retain talent in the judiciary, to get good people coming in, develop them along the way so they are stimulated in the job they do, and serve for as long as possible.”

Lord Kakkar said “many sensible people”, including Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, are “in favour” of changing the rules.

Lord Neuberger recently said the statutory retirement age has resulted in a “huge loss of experience and talent”.