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, consisting of more than one judge at the High Court level, to investigate into serious or complex pursuable complaints against judicial conduct or those which have attracted 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 2024, a total of 111 complaints were disposed of, including 18 pursuable complaints against judicial conduct and 93 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 must be addressed through appeal or review using the existing legal procedures.

There was one partially substantiated pursuable complaint in 2024.

Complaints related to judicial conduct are broadly classified according to their nature. Among the pursuable complaints against judicial conduct, 5 cases were related to attitude and behaviour in court, 6 cases were related to the handling of court proceedings and 7 cases were of a mixed nature.

Information regarding the complaints disposed of is summarised below.

Number of Complaints disposed of 1		2024 Total
a)	Pursuable complaints against judicial conduct	182,3
b)	Non-pursuable complaints (judicial/statutory decisions or frivolous/vexatious complaints)	934
Total		1115

1.	Under the enhanced mechanism, the investigation findings of all pursuable complaints against judicial conduct will be reviewed either by the Advisory Committee (for complaints which are serious, complex, attract wide public attention, or directly pertain 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, as well as non-pursuable complaints, will be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee periodically.
2.	These are other pursuable complaints against judicial conduct that have been reviewed by High Court judges before disposal. They have been or will be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee periodically.
3.	Among the pursuable complaints, there is one partially substantiated case. The complainant was an unrepresented litigant in the Small Claims Tribunal. He complained against a Deputy Adjudicator’s manner at a pre-trial hearing. The complainant alleged that the Deputy Adjudicator had already formed a settled view on the case before the hearing. The Court Leader investigated the case and found that the Deputy Adjudicator had, at times, responded to the complainant in an impatient manner, and some of the Deputy Adjudicator’s utterances and expressions were inappropriate and might undermine the perception of impartiality. The complaint against judicial conduct was therefore found to be partially substantiated. The Court Leader’s investigation findings were reviewed by two High Court Judges who agreed with the findings and disposed of the complaint accordingly. Upon review, the Advisory Committee endorsed the conclusion on this complaint. The Court Leader has reminded all relevant judicial officers of the importance of impartiality and courtesy in the performance of the judicial functions.
4.	These non-pursuable complaints have been or will be summarily reported to the Advisory Committee periodically.
5.	The number of complaints disposed of only includes complaints that included the mandatory information (i.e. the complainant’s name and correspondence address).

Last Update Date : 20-01-2025