The Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) (Amendment) Regulations 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/676) (“the principal Regulations”) and come into force on 28th August 2008. The principal Regulations prescribe the procedures to be followed in the investigation and determination of allegations of misconduct by judicial office holders under chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4).

In addition to the amendments which aim to clarify, simplify or consequentially amend the principal Regulations:

(a) regulations 5 and 6 make provision about information which can be treated as a complaint;

(b) regulation 7 requires the Office for Judicial Complaints (“OJC”) to refer complaints it has received from the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to a nominated judge (this referral is currently discretionary);

(c) regulation 8 requires the OJC to dismiss complaints which fall within regulation 14(1)(a)-(k) of the principal Regulations (this dismissal is currently discretionary). It also requires the OJC to consult any independent evidence to verify disputed facts unless to do so would be disproportionate;

(d) regulation 9 limits the circumstances in which a decision to dismiss a complaint by the OJC can be reconsidered;

(e) regulation 10 enables the Lord Chief Justice to appoint different judicial office holders to consider different aspects of the same case;

(f) regulation 11 provides for a new function for a nominated judge to consider whether a request to convene a review body is totally without merit;

(g) regulations 12 and 17 provide that, during investigation or review respectively, facts must be established on the balance of probabilities;

(h) regulation 15 reduces from twenty to ten the number of business days in which the subject of disciplinary proceedings must make any representations to the Lord Chancellor’s and the Lord Chief Justice’s proposed disciplinary action;

(i) regulation 16 introduces new procedures for the convening of a review body;

(j) regulation 19 restricts disclosure of a review body’s draft report to persons who may be adversely affected by its contents and clarifies who is subject to the requirement to provide representations on a draft report within 10 business days; and

(k) regulation 20 provides that the OJC have the power to defer consideration of a case in certain circumstances.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.