The JAC has announced that the appointment exercise is now open for application

Salaried and Fee-paid Judges of the Upper Tribunal, Administrative Appeals Chamber (AAC)
Closing date for applications: noon 22 December 2011
Number of vacancies: Two salaried, up to six fee-paid
Locations: London (two salaried, four fee-paid) and Edinburgh (two fee-paid)
Salary: £128,296 Fee: £583

The AAC is one of the four Chambers of the Upper Tribunal, it has a UK wide jurisdiction. The main work of the Judges of the AAC is to decide applications for permission to appeal and appeals (almost exclusively on points of law) from decisions of four Chambers (the General Regulatory, the Health, Education and Social Care, the Social Entitlement, and the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation) of the First-tier Tribunal and also of some equivalent Tribunals.
The bulk of the cases relate to social security benefits, child support, and housing benefit: a substantial majority of these cases are decided on paper.  The jurisdiction of the AAC, however, encompasses a wide range of other work, as diverse (by way of examples) as mental health and information rights.
For these posts the JAC welcomes applications from solicitors, barristers and advocates with at least seven years post qualification experience and from those with other relevant legal expertise. The Lord Chancellor expects that candidates for the salaried posts will have sufficient directly relevant previous judicial experience. Exceptions may be made for those who have demonstrated the necessary skills in some other significant way.
For the fee-paid posts in Edinburgh, knowledge and experience of Scots law is required, but it is not necessary to have a Scottish legal qualification.
The information pack, which can be found on our website, includes the full eligibility criteria. It also describes the selection process, with dates of the qualifying test/shortlisting and selection days, and advice on how to prepare your application.