The judge had informally met counsel in the corridor outside court, and advised him of the need to settle the case. The client asked the judge to recuse himself, having compromised his independence and impartiality.
Held: Such meetings were a proper part of litigation, and did much to assist avoidance of increased costs. In deciding whether to recuse himself a judge must ask whether a fair, informed and reasonable observer would consider there to be a real risk of bias. Such an observer would not so judge, and he declined to recuse himself.
The Hon Mr Justice Jacob
Times 08-Oct-2002, [2002] EWHC 1984 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Steadman-Byrne v Amjad and others CA 27-Jun-2007
In the course of a personal injury trial, the judge asked counsel to his room, where he said that having been conviced that the claimants were not lying, the defence had no prospect of success, and complained that ‘Insurance companies are trying to . .
Cited – IA311012013 AIT 28-Aug-2014
The appelant had sought indefinite leave to remain. He now cmplained that the judge at the fisrt tire tribunal had made a remark at the outset suggesting that he had a closed mind or had already made up his mind. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Litigation Practice, Natural Justice
Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.177382