Retirement and removal of judges Flashcards
important that judges are impartial to their decision important that judges understand the government cannot force a judge to retire or resign just because of a decision therefore, there are protections in place.
explain the age retirement for judges
since the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993, all judges now retire at age 70
however, lord chancellor may authorize retired senior judges to sit part-time until age of 75
explain the removal of superior level judges
-have “security of tenure”, whereby they may remain a judge during good behavior, according to constitutional reform act 2005
-this means they cannot be dismissed by lord chancellor on behalf of government
-they can only be removed by the monarch following a petition presented by both houses of parliament
-this gives judges protection from political whims and allows them to be independent
- the power of parliament to remove a superior judge has never been used for an english judge but is has been used to remove an irish judge in 1830who had misappropriated 700 pounds from court funds
- however, lord chief justice can, after consulting with lord chancellor, declare vacant the office of any judge who is
incapable of carrying out their work and of taking the action to resign. this may be because they are very sick
-this power is contained in the senior courts act 1981.
explain the removal of inferior level judges
do not have the same security as superior-level judges
-LC has power to dismiss lower-level judges for incapacity or misbehavior. however, under the constitutional reform act 2005, LC must comply with set procedures and have the consent of the lord chief justice before he can use this power.
- misbehavior may be something as dishonesty, either inside or outside the court.
for example in the 1970s there was the case of Bruce Campbell, a circuit judge who was convicted of evading customs duty on cigarettes and whiskey.
- also under constitutional reform act 2005, lord chief justice may suspend a person from judicial office if they are subject to criminal proceedings or have been convicted. however, lord chief justice must have consent to this as well,.
which office are complaints by judges investigated
complaints are investigated by the Judicial Conduct Investigation Office (JCIO)
what does JCIO do
it investigates complaint about the behaviour of a judge
if the JCIO finds the complaint to be true, then the lord chancellor and lord chief justice have the power to take disciplinary action. this can be
formal advice,
a warning,
a reprimand
a suspension from office,
or in serious cases, remove of a judge from office.
Give a case example of a complaint
in 2015 ,one district judge and two deputy district judges were removed fromthe office for viewing pornographic material on their official judicial IT accounts
