The Lord Chancellor's Department has carried out its investigations into the most suitable candidates. The appointment process is believed to have lent itself to criticism that a member of the government should not have sole responsibility for appointing judges. Judges were also found to be appointed in the image of existing judges rather than solely on merit from a widely selected pool of eligible candidates. Despite the criticisms leveled, the previous method of nomination actually worked quite well. For candidates selected on merit, there was no doubt that political considerations were involved and the Lord Chancellor usually acted on the advice of senior magistrates, who were in a position to identify competent professionals. However, as critics have pointed out, the selection was from a rather small group, and this has done nothing for the diversity of the judiciary. It was felt that while judges should be appointed on merit, if we are to have a judiciary that has the confidence of citizens, it must fairly reflect all sectors of society that are capable of providing candidates with the required skills. The new selection system seeks to encourage such candidates to come forward. The public competition sets all the appointments. The Commission recommends the candidates