Complaints against Judges and Judicial Officers


An enhanced mechanism with a two-tier structure for handling complaints against judicial conduct was introduced in August 2021. The two-tier system comprises-

(a)Tier 1 – A Panel of Judges comprising more than one judge at the High Court level to investigate into serious or complex pursuable complaints against judicial conduct or those which have aroused wide public attention;
(b)Tier 2 – The Advisory Committee on Complaints against Judicial Conduct ("the Advisory Committee") chaired by the Chief Justice and comprising judges and members from the community to review and advise on these cases before the Chief Justice makes a final decision on each complaint.

In 2023, a total of 462 complaints were disposed of, including 383 pursuable complaints against judicial conduct and 79 non-pursuable complaints that were mainly related to judicial decisions. In accordance with the principle of judicial independence, complaints against judicial decisions cannot and will not be dealt with under the complaint handling mechanism. Any dissatisfaction with judicial decisions can only be dealt with by way of appeal or review through existing legal procedures.

Among these complaints, 348 complaints were related to mass complaints against a judicial officer.

There were two partially substantiated pursuable complaints in 2023.

Complaints related to judicial conduct are broadly classified according to their nature. Among pursuable complaints against judicial conduct, 11 cases were related to attitude and behaviour in court, 365 cases were related to the handling of the actual proceedings in court and 7 cases were of a mixed nature.

Information regarding the complaints disposed of is summarised below.

Number of Complaints Disposed of 12023
Total
a)Pursuable complaints against judicial conduct383
(i)pursuable complaints comprising a large number of similar complaints and drawing wide public attention
3482
(ii)other pursuable complaints against judicial conduct
353, 4
b)Non-pursuable complaints
(judicial/statutory decisions or frivolous/vexatious complaints)		795
Total4626

1.Under the enhanced mechanism, the investigation findings of all pursuable complaints against judicial conduct are to be reviewed either by the Advisory Committee (for complaints which are serious/complex/drawing wide public attention or directly related to judicial conduct of specific judges) or by High Court judges (for other pursuable complaints against judicial conduct) before disposal. In addition, the disposal of other pursuable complaints and non-pursuable complaints is to be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee from time to time.
2.These 348 complaints are related to mass complaints involving one court case and have been reviewed by the Advisory Committee in the year.
3.These pursuable complaints have been or will be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee from time to time.
4. Among the pursuable complaints under (a)(ii), there are two partially substantiated cases. Details of the cases are as follows:
(a)The complainant complained against the Magistrate’s manner in commenting on the complainant’s approach in filing amendments. The Court Leader found that there was room for improvement in the Magistrate’s handling of the court case. For the proper and effective disposal of cases, the Magistrate may, where appropriate, issue case management instructions and comment on the litigants’ handling approach. However, care should be taken to ensure that any criticism made is relevant, necessary and reasonable, and tempered with caution and restraint. The Magistrate was reminded to be more careful to avoid making any remarks that might give an unnecessary impression of not allowing the complainant to provide explanations.
(b)The complainant complained against the Magistrate’s manner in making comments on the complainant’s line of cross-examination. The complainant also questioned that the Magistrate’s use of judiciary stationery was inappropriate. The Court Leader found that the Magistrate passed his remarks in an overly severe tone. While a judicial officer may have to intervene where necessary to maintain the proper conduct of the proceedings, the judicial officer should ensure that such comments and interventions are measured and restrained. As regards the use of judicial stationery, it was not inappropriate as it was connected to matters arising from the discharge of the Magistrate’s judicial functions.
The Court Leader’s investigation findings on these cases were reviewed by one or more High Court judges and were summarily reported to the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee endorsed the conclusions on these cases.
5.These non-pursuable complaints have been or will be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee from time to time.
6.For those identical or similar complaints against a judge / judicial officer involving more than one court case, the number of complaints will only be reported in the above table upon full disposal of complaints of all court cases involved. The number of complaints disposed of only includes complaints provided with the mandatory information (correspondence address and name).