The complainant was a self-represented party in an assault trial

20060002 - The complainant was a self-represented party in an assault trial. The complainant alleged that the judge interrupted the complainant during closing arguments, did not want to listen to case law authorities, and was biased against selfrepresented litigants.

The matter was closed because no further action was required. The judge did say that the case law was not important.These comments were not ideal, but they were not serious enough to warrant further investigation. Judges have a duty to maintain firm control of the proceedings before them. The judge’s comments were intended to focus the complainant’s submissions on the relevant point then being argued, and were not intended to suggest that he was not interested in the complainant’s arguments about the law.