seniority and not political preference. Judges of state High Courts are appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the state concerned. While in these countries the Executive theoretically has a great deal of freedom in choosing judges for the highest court, it needs to be remembered that they are all strong democracies with a vigorous free press. Consequently, politicians must act with caution. Defined formal process In the United States, Supreme Court justices, and judges of Federal appeal courts and district courts, are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee typically conducts confirmation hearings for each nominee. The system is open to criticism: the hearing process, for one thing, is said to be intrusive and time-consuming; Senators try to get candidates to commit themselves to a particular line on contentious issues; and nominations are very much affected by the President’s own political outlook. In the United Kingdom a Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible for selecting judges in England and Wales. It is a independent statutory body made up of 15 members of whom nine are drawn from the judiciary and the legal profession and six are lay-people. The Commission interviews applicants and selects them on merit measured by five core qualities: intellectual capacity, personal qualities (integrity, independence, judgement, decisiveness, objectivity, ability, willingness to learn), ability to understand and deal fairly, authority and communication skills, and efficiency. Successful candidates are formally appointed by the Lord Chancellor (not the head of State). In South Africa judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the President after consultation with the JSC and the leaders of parties represented in the National Assembly (the President is free to disregard their opinion). The candidates for appointment are chosen from lists prepared by the JSC after public interviews. The President appoints judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the various High Courts on the advice of the JSC (he must follow the advice) and he appoints the Chief Justice, the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal after consultation with the JSC (but can disregard its opinion). The South African JSC is a large body comprising judges, members of the legal profession, the Cabinet and members of both Houses of Parliament; when it considers appointments to a provincial High Court, it includes the premier of the province concerned and the judge heading that High Court. Hence the legal profession, the public and politicians all have a say in the appointment of judges. Qualifications of Judges In Australia and South Africa, the qualifications for appointment as a judge are not specified with any precision. The South African Constitution requires the JSC to take into account “the need for the judiciary to reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa”. In Zimbabwe an appointee must either: • have been a judge of a superior court in a foreign country where the common law is Roman-Dutch or English, and English is an official language, or 59