You can usually tell from a roughly how old a person is just from reading their resume. If they list themselves as a team lead in 1990, then you can be pretty sure that they are at least 50. I would guess that the judge wants to limit to people who had in-person interview because that shows that they were at least close to getting the job. If you have gotten past the phone interview stage then you have already demonstrated basic competence.

If you're trying to fill a junior position, then you don't want to hire someone who has been working as a chief architect for the last 10 years. It's not about their age. It's about the fact that they are way overqualified and will probably quit as soon as they can find something that they are qualified for.