Glossary of terms

Follow the link to view the Schedule 1 (Justice (NI) Act 2002) Listed Judicial Offices (PDF 26 KB)

NIJAC refers to each judicial recruitment exercise as a "scheme."

NIJAC develop individual programmes of action for each recruitment competition. These are known as Scheme Outreach Plans. They are designed to attract the widest possible pool of eligible applicants.

A Selection Committee is appointed by NIJAC’s Chairman,  after Business Committee has been consulted,  for each recruitment scheme. It has overall responsibility for the selection and recommendation of  applicants for judicial office.

The Selection Committee is comprised of no less than 3 members. In general these members will be NIJAC Commissioners but (depending on the judicial office being advertised), can also include persons with specialist knowledge.

The Social Security and Child Support Commissioners are an appellate jurisdiction responsible for dealing with appeals on a point of law from the decision of an Appeal Tribunal.

Additional information can be found on the Northern Ireland Courts & Tribunals Service website.

A legal practitioner who generally is responsible for advising clients on legal matters, preparing legal documents, representing clients in summary matters, and instructing barristers in relation to more complex advocacy work.

The function of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal is to hear appeals from parents against certain Education and Library Board decisions on their children’s special educational needs.

Additional information can be found on the Northern Ireland Courts & Tribunals Service and Education Support for Northern Ireland websites.

The Supreme Court was created under the terms of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and completes the separation of the UK's legal and judicial systems. Justices of the Supreme Court will no longer be able to sit or vote in the House of Lords.

Slightly confusingly, the High Court, Court of Appeal and Crown Court have up to now been referred to as the Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland – due to the introduction of the new Supreme Court they are now known as the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland.

Additional information can be found on The Supreme Court website.