JCIO 79/24

A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said:

The Lord Chancellor has removed Mr Gary Morgan from membership of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) for failing, without a reasonable excuse, to meet the minimum sittings requirement of his role.

Facts

Paragraph A10 of Schedule 11 to the Local Government and Finance Act 1988 (LGFA 1988) provides a power for the Lord Chancellor to remove a member of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) from office if satisfied that the member is –

unable, unwilling, or unfit (whether because of misbehaviour or otherwise), to perform his functions as member of the Tribunal.

On appointment, members of the VTE commit to sit for at least 12 days a year, which includes training days as well as hearings. They are also expected to keep in regular contact with the tribunal and provide their availability to undertake sittings.

The summary process in the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023 enables the JCIO to recommend a judicial office-holder’s removal from office without further investigation where the office-holder concerned has failed, without reasonable excuse, to meet the minimum sittings requirement of their role.

Mr Morgan was appointed to the VTE in 1999. He has not completed any sittings since 2020 and has not been in contact with the tribunal since November 2020. He did not respond to multiple attempts by the VTE to contact him. He did not engage in the judicial disciplinary process and therefore provided no reasons for his lack of sittings and lack of contact with the tribunal.

Referral to JCIO and its advice to the Lord Chancellor

The President of the VTE referred Mr Morgan’s case to the JCIO. Having carefully considered the facts, the JCIO advised the Lord Chancellor that the appropriate disciplinary action in this case would be removal from office.

Decision

The Lord Chancellor agreed with the JCIO’s advice to remove Mr Morgan from office.

Notes for Editors

Media queries in relation to the JCIO should be made in the first instance to the Judicial Press Office - telephone 020 7073 4852 or via email - press.enquiries@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk

Sanctions for misconduct by judicial office-holders are set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. They are, in order of severity: formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.

For more information about the Office, including details on how to make a complaint against a judicial office holder, you can visit the JCIO website at: Judicial Conduct Investigations website