Looking for a new job? The court has opened the recruitment process following Lord Reed’s planned retirement on 10 January 2027. Applications close at 5pm on 17 April 2026. Are you up for it?
Check out the full job ad here.
The selection criteria demands outstanding legal ability, communication skills, and experience of engaging with politicians, public bodies and the wider public which is revealing. Courts tend not to advertise for charisma just to keep things chill in the canteen. They do it more so when the holder of the office is expected to manage relationships beyond the courtroom.
The President presides not only over the Supreme Court, but also over the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and acts as one of the principal public faces of the judiciary. The role now sits at the point where appellate excellence meets constitutional diplomacy.
There is an assumption buried within much coverage of senior judicial appointments that the best legal mind should simply rise to the top. That sounds sensible until one asks oneself what the job now demands in this day and age.
The President does not operate singularly in private. He or she leads an institution which is increasingly discussed in political argument, scrutinised in public debate, and expected to justify itself without becoming political. That requires a particular kind of authority. Technical brilliance is great but a judge who cannot explain the court’s role, protect its independence, or absorb political pressure without rhetorical overreach would be a struggle, no matter how impressive their judgments might be.
So the state is not just looking for a successor to Lord Reed. It is looking for someone who can lead the institution through an era in which senior judges are expected to be both restrained yet visible, careful yet persuasive, independent but not silent.
Of course, the legal sector will naturally speculate about candidates. The more important question is what kind of presidency the appointment process itself appears to favour. However what is clear based on what we now know, the next President will be chosen not only as a jurist, but as a constitutional steward.
That is a bigger job than the title alone suggests…
Get your applications in!
Author: TOR
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