| Number of Complaints Disposed of by the Chief Justice and the Court Leaders | Nature of Complaints | 2017 Total
|
| Judicial / Statutory Decision | Judicial Conduct | Both Judicial / Statutory Decision and Judicial Conduct | Dissatisfaction with the Court Leader’s handling and / or findings of the original complaints |
| Chief Justice | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| Chief Judge of the High Court | 29 | 0 | 0 | NA | 29 |
| Chief District Judge | 20 | 2 | 5 | NA | 27 |
| Chief Magistrate | 43 | 4 | 10 | NA | 57 |
| Sub-total | 97 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 128 |
| Notes: |
| i. | The total number of cases filed in 2017 is 485,303. |
| ii. | Complaints related to judicial conduct can be broadly classified according to their nature. Among complaints on judicial conduct above, 5 cases are related to attitude and behavior in court, 7 cases are related to handling of actual proceedings in court, and 9 cases are related to mixed nature. |
| iii. | Among the complaints above, there are 4 partially justified cases, with 2 related to the undesirable attitude and behavior in court, 1 related to handling of actual proceedings in court and 1 related to mixed nature. Details of the 4 cases are as follows:
| (a) | The complainant complained that a Magistrate maintained poor attitude in the court and towards defendants, as well as using inappropriate wording in the proceedings. The Court Leader found that there was room for improvement on the part of the Magistrate in handling unrepresented defendant. The Court Leader also found that some of the wording used by the Magistrate in the proceedings were inappropriate. The Court Leader had given advice to the Magistrate accordingly. |
| (b) | The complainant complained that a Magistrate maintained poor attitude towards the representative of the complainant’s company, refused the representative of the complainant’s company to give evidence and adjourned the hearing and claimed that costs would be ordered against the complainant’s company. The Court Leader had given advice to the Magistrate to pay more attention to his manner and wording in explaining the legal proceedings. The Court Leader also found that the Magistrate adjourned the hearing so that the complainant’s company could arrange another representative who could understand their document or evidence. In addition, the decision of adjourned hearing and order of costs were judicial decisions. If the complainant’s company was aggrieved by the judicial decision, it could only be appealed through existing legal procedures. |
| (c) | The complainant complained that a Magistrate failed to conduct the hearing in a fair manner and was biased against the complainant, failed to analyze the case and the evidence, threatened the complainant to plead guilty by citing most serious punishment, and questioned the complainant four to five times and was playing the role as the prosecutor during the proceedings. Well before the receipt of the complaint, the Court Leader had received the judgment of High Court related to the appeal from this case. After reviewing the relevant materials and the full judgment, the Court Leader found that the Magistrate’s wording and conduct was inappropriate and may undermine the perception of impartiality. The Court Leader had given advice to the Magistrate accordingly. Regarding the complainant’s view about the Magistrate’s analysis of evidence, it was a matter of judicial decision and was dealt with in the High Court judgment. |
| (d) | The complainant complained that a Magistrate maintained poor attitude to the complainant, witness and prosecutor, led the prosecutor to use suggestive interrogation when examining the parties, examined the witness with leading questions and failed to give the complainant a fair trial. The Court Leader found that there was room for improvement in respect of the Magistrate’s attitude. The Court Leader had given advice to the Magistrate accordingly. Other allegations raised against the Magistrate were related to the judicial decisions. If the complainant was aggrieved by the judicial decision, it could only be appealed through existing legal procedures. The complainant did exercise his right to appeal to the High Court, which was subsequently dismissed. |
|
|
