JCIO IS A SECRET CLOAKING DEVICE

Almost daily it seems but in reality probably monthly a supervisory body is found to have allowed bad things to happen in an organisation supposedly under its jurisdiction.  Police, hospitals, children`s services, building authorities and many others whose oversight has been found wonting generally issue a statement of self serving apology and assuring a sceptical public and their political overlords behind the bushes that steps are being taken to ensure that failures will be rectified.  Very occasionally people are removed from their jobs many to resurface months later with a new position and title often with an enhanced salary.  But what of those who appointed the supervisory or disciplinary body which failed in its sole purpose of supervising or disciplining? We, the great British public, just do not know who appoints the appointees.  Insofar as that most secretive of bodies, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, is concerned its members are approved by the Lord Chancellor but its workhorses who decide on any case are civil servants.  I posted the organisational chart that shows the staff involved on 18th October 2022  .  By typing in the search box JCIO previous posts on this topic may be read. 

However my reason today for re-visiting this subject is three fold; 
1. The identities of those who decide on the evidence presented by the JCIO whether or not to sanction the judicial office holder under investigation are not available to the public and 
2. Despite apparent clarity on its website the JCIO accepts or rejects without appeal in an arbitrary fashion. 
3. Secrecy is the fallback position of all inquiry.  The statement below from the JCIO website requires no interpretation

Please note: In accordance with Section 139 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, information about judicial disciplinary cases which relates to an identified or identifiable individual is confidential and must not be disclosed without lawful authority. This does not apply to formal action taken at the conclusion of the disciplinary process, which is published on the JCIO’s website as per the Lord Chief Justices and Lord Chancellors’ publication policy. Personal data is protected under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018

The JCIO is open to complaints including:-

Any action that amounts to misconduct. Some examples include:
    Bullying or harassment, for example of staff, colleagues, litigants, or legal representatives
    Using racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive language
    Loss of temper/rudeness/aggression, for example shouting   
    Misusing judicial status, for example to try to influence another person or organisation for personal     gain
    Misusing social media, for example posting offensive content, or content which could damage public     confidence in judicial impartiality such as remarks about government policy
    Failure to report personal involvement in civil, criminal, or professional disciplinary proceedings
    Delay in issuing a judgment or order (usually considered to be a delay, without a reasonable excuse, of more than three months)
    Falling asleep in court

It is not involved in any of the following:-
    

A judge’s decision or order
    Bias in a judge’s decision-making
    A judge allowing one party to speak for longer than another
    A judge refusing to allow a witness to give evidence or admit certain documents
    A judge appearing to react more favourably to one person’s evidence than another’s
    A judge saying that he or she does not believe a person’s evidence, questioning a person’s credibility  or criticising a person’s actions
    A judge making an error of law or procedure
    A judge expressing opinions about issues related to a case they are hearing
    The amount of costs or damages awarded by a judge
    A judge not reading documents before a hearing
    A judge refusing to transfer a case to a different judge or court
    A judge reserving a case to themselves
    A judge refusing to correspond with a party about a case
    Fraud or any other criminal offence
    Court staff, court bailiffs or the facilities and services provided by courts
    Other bodies such as the Police or Crown Prosecution Service
    Solicitors and Barristers

From the above it is very obvious that any matter in the first group is subjective.  At what stage and by how senior an operative is a decision to proceed with regulatory action is not for public consumption.  Indeed whether or not there has been a complaint about a judicial office holder is itself a closely guarded secret.  An example of late is that of District Judge (MC) Stephen Leake. Rumour mongering and whispers are possibly more rife in the legal fraternity as any other.  This is a natural consequence of a secrecy going back centuries which has still to come to terms with the openness expected from kings downwards.  I posted about DJ Leake 27th December 2022.  Gossip since then in the coffee houses of Chancery Lane tells of a complaint against the judge who has had a meteoric  rise in status being appointed Deputy District Judge (Magistrates’ courts) in 2019, District Judge based at Medway Magistrates’ Court with effect from 1 November 2021and a member of the Sentencing Council since Monday 23 May 2022.  The alleged complaint centred around that widely reported case as above.  Since then further activity in the media reported that the judge`s remarks about being unable to sentence an offender to immediate custody because the prisons were full were refuted by MOJ spokesperson as being in error. Whether or not those remarks constitute reason for complaint we will never know.  Perhaps DJ Leake`s future as a judge of the crown court, high court and supreme court is already written in the stars or anticipated by some unknown propellant which has fired him above his peers with such rapidity. Time will tell all. 

Justice is not justice if it is not seen to be done.  That applies to the judges as much or more than it applies to the judged.  Senior judiciary is afraid to speak out until in receipt of a gold plated pension.  That is understandable or at least was understandable in  previous centuries.  But we are now in an era of instant world wide communication.  The mores of 1953 are unsustainable in 2023 as even King Charles has noted.  The current situation, where at the base of the judicial pyramid lay magistrates sit as a bench of one in secret and the pinnacle where their senior colleagues are subject to a secret protective layer of the invisible cloaking device of the JCIO, the future is not rosy.  We should all be concerned.