The complainant alleged that the judge’s spouse was a personal friend of her own spouse and was influencing her lawyer and the divorce proceedings (a pre-trial conference)

20070004 - The complainant alleged that the judge’s spouse was a personal friend of her own spouse and was influencing her lawyer and the divorce proceedings (a pre-trial conference). The complainant also said that the judge acted in “bad faith” and committed “perjury” during the proceedings.

The judge was asked to comment the allegations. The review showed that, at the time of the hearing before the judge, the complainant had not indicated any concerns about the relationship between the judge’s spouse and the lawyer. More importantly, the judge explained that neither she nor her spouse had any kind of family, personal, professional or financial relationship of any kind with the opposing lawyer. The judge provided information to support this. The chairperson of the conduct committee found that the other allegations of the complainant were far-fetched and that there was not a shred of evidence to suggest bad faith on the part of the judge involved. The complaint was dismissed.

The significance of impartial hearings and the scope of the Council’s jurisdiction are highlighted in the case of an elderly woman who was tried for contempt of court and sentenced to imprisonment.