The Daily Telegraph has reported that the cost of the generous pension pot provided for our judges has more than doubled to £131 million over the past five years. It's time that we revisited the arrangements made for our judiciary. The first step I would suggest is removing the mandatory retirement age.
A mandatory retirement age for a job to which one inevitably comes relatively late in one's career is absurd. I've made the case previously on this site for health checks on judges in post and I continue to believe that that is appropriate. Removing the mandatory retirement age, subject to the health check, would have the following benefits: (i) judges would be free to for work longer, as many wish to - absent any harm, that's an important individual freedom; (ii) we would no longer automatically lose experienced people who are good at their jobs; (iii) pension take-up would be later on average; (iv) potentially fewer judges would be needed as the brethren go on sitting longer, again lowering the demands on the pot as well as lowering salary requirements.
