The Commissioner’s role
The role of the Commissioner was created in 1995, in response to the first report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Its remit was:
- to provide guidance for Government departments on procedures for making public appointments;
- to audit those procedures and report on them annually;
- to investigate complaints about appointment processes.
The main form of guidance is the Code of Practice for Ministerial Public Appointments (PDF 320KB), which sets the standard by which appointments should be made and which is based on the seven principles of public appointments.
The Commissioner is independent of government.
Founding Legislation
This section contains copies of the legislation setting out in detail the Commissioner's remit.
- Commissioner for Public Appointments (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (PDF 184 KB)
- Commissioner for Public Appointments (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001 (PDF 110 KB)
- Commissioner for Public Appointments (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2008 (PDF 41 KB)
- Commissioner for Public Appointments (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010 (PDF 104 KB)