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The commissions are made up of a mix of members from the judiciary, legal profession, non-legally qualified judicial officer holders and the public, all chosen through open competition.

When there is a vacancy on the bench, an open competition is held for that appointment and this includes written tests. A panel of three commissioners does the initial vetting.

Once a shortlist is arrived at, the finalists are interviewed by a panel of between three and five commission members and subjected to more tests, including role playing exercises.

The panel must consult with a person who held the position in the past when preparing its report on these interviews.

The full commission makes the final decision and recommends only one candidate to the minister for appointment (though it must report on the comments made by the previous office holder and discuss any divergence of opinion).

If the minister rejects the recommendation he must provide written reasons to the commission.

When a vacancy on the Supreme Court opens up, a special selection committee is convened.

The committee is chaired by the chief justice, who chooses a senior judge from anywhere in the United Kingdom (other than the Supreme Court) to be the deputy chair. The chairs of each of the three judicial appointments commissions assign one of their members to this committee (at least one has to be a lay person) bringing the number of members to five.

This selection committee must consult with the senior judge of each of the superior courts in the United Kingdom, as well as the minister and the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.