They sit in the Crown Court and county courts, are appointed by the monarch on the Lord Chancellor's advice, and retire at the age of 72 (this has now been changed to 70 by the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993).

The Lord Chancellor may also sack a circuit judge on the grounds of "incapacity or misbehaviour".

The act also introduces part-time Crown Court judges, known as recorders—also appointed by the Lord Chancellor.

(Since the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, appointing judges has been reformed and is now done by the Judicial Appointments Commission in England and Wales, and equivalent bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.)

Most of the remainder of the Act is about other miscellaneous administrative provisions relating to appointments, payment, and accommodation; these have almost all been repealed by the Supreme Court Act and other justice legislation.