Health and Disability

We warmly welcome applications from disabled people (and you will find more information about our 'guaranteed interview' arrangement in the application form).  We are also aware, from advice received from disabled people during the development of these recruitment procedures, that it is important for disabled people to form their own judgement about the demands of the role - and that they require relevant information to be able to do so.  For example:-

• It is important to be able to manage the business of the court, but the court is under the control of the justice who is sitting;  so for those with varying levels of stamina, it is possible to take a recess when required - within reason.
• It is also important that you can understand those before you, and be understood by them immediately;  contact with those who appear before the court is short in duration, sometimes fleeting, and it is a critically important, and stressful, occasion for them;  they need to understand what is happening and what your decision is with complete clarity.
• There is a large amount of 'reading and writing' involved in the role, for which a number of reasonable adjustments can be made, such as having a scribe and receiving material in accessible formats, so it is not a barrier - but you do need to be comfortable with the volume involved.

If you do need to understand more about the physical and mental demands of the role, you may find some of the material in the DVD about being a Justice of the Peace particularly useful for this purpose - and we very strongly recommend that all those who decide to apply, whether or not they cosnider themselves to be a disabled person, to visit a local Justice of the Peace court as that will also provide some understanding of what is involved. 

If you have any questions about what is contained in this section or something that is not mentioned here, then please contact us so that we can provide an answer.