What can I complain about? · Customer Self-Service

We can only deal with complaints about the personal conduct of judicial office holders. This means that we cannot accept complaints about a judge’s decision or the way a judge has managed a case. Complaints which fall outside our remit will be rejected.

If you believe the way that a judge has handled a hearing or a judge’s decision was unfair, you might be able to appeal to a higher court. The JCIO is unable to intervene in court cases. We would suggest seeking advice about your options from a solicitor, law centre or the Citizens Advice.

We can investigate

Any action that amounts to misconduct. Some examples include:

Bullying or harassment, for example of staff, colleagues, litigants, or legal representatives

Using racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive language

Loss of temper/rudeness/aggression, for example shouting

Misusing judicial status, for example to try to influence another person or organisation for personal gain

Misusing social media, for example posting offensive content, or content which could damage public confidence in judicial impartiality such as remarks about government policy

Failure to report personal involvement in civil, criminal, or professional disciplinary proceedings

Delay in issuing a judgment (The general threshold for when the time taken to complete a judgment may raise a question of misconduct is that the period since the conclusion of the hearing or trial exceeds three months. Some courts/tribunals have different target timescales)

Delay in dealing with an application - usually considered to be a delay, without a reasonable excuse, of more than three months. The complainant must first establish that the court have processed the application and placed it before the judge.

Falling asleep in court

We cannot investigate

A judge’s decision or order

Bias in a judge’s decision-making

A judge allowing one party to speak for longer than another

A judge refusing to allow a witness to give evidence or admit certain documents

A judge appearing to react more favourably to one person’s evidence than another’s

Delay in dealing with an application where the complainant has not established whether the court have processed the application and placed it before the judge.

A judge saying that he or she does not believe a person’s evidence, questioning a person’s credibility or criticising a person’s actions

A judge making an error of law or procedure

A judge expressing opinions about issues related to a case they are hearing

The amount of costs or damages awarded by a judge

A judge not reading documents before a hearing

A judge refusing to transfer a case to a different judge or court

A judge reserving a case to themselves

A judge refusing to correspond with a party about a case

Fraud or any other criminal offence

Coroner officers, court staff, court bailiffs or the facilities and services provided by courts

Other bodies such as the Police or Crown Prosecution Service

Solicitors and Barristers