A district judge who raised his voice and spoke rudely to someone in court had been issued with formal advice for misconduct.

A party to a case complained to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) that district judge Christopher Falvey had been ‘discourteous towards them and shouted at them during a hearing’.

According to a report by Law Gazette, Falvey admitted to ‘showing a degree of irritation and acknowledged that his manner of speaking to the complainant fell short of his usual standards’. He denied shouting but ‘accepted and regretted that his language had fallen short of his usual standard’.

A spokesperson for the JCIO said: ‘The Guide to Judicial Conduct states that an office holder is expected to be “courteous, patient, tolerant and should respect the dignity of all”.’

An investigation found Falvey had not shouted at the complainant but he had ‘raised his voice and spoken in a rude and impatient manner to the complainant’. Finding his behaviour amounted to misconduct, the investigation also found one of Falvey’s comments to the complainant was ‘demeaning’.

The lady chief justice, with the lord chancellor’s agreement, issued Falvey with formal advice for misconduct. Sanctions for misconduct by judicial office-holders are, in order of severity, formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.

A statement on the complaint obtained by CITY LAWYER reads:

STATEMENT FROM THE JUDICIAL CONDUCT
INVESTIGATIONS OFFICE

District Judge Christopher Falvey

A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said:

The Lady Chief Justice, with the Lord Chancellor’s agreement, has issued District Judge (DJ) Christopher Falvey with formal advice for misconduct.

Facts

The Guide to Judicial Conduct states that an office holder is expected to be “courteous, patient, tolerant and should respect the dignity of all”.

A party to a case complained to the JCIO that DJ Falvey had been discourteous towards them and shouted at them during a hearing.

District Judge Falvey’s representations

DJ Falvey admitted to showing a degree of irritation and acknowledged that his manner of speaking to the complainant fell short of his usual standards. However, he denied shouting at the complainant.

Nominated judge’s findings

Following an investigation carried out under the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023, a nominated judge found that DJ Falvey’s behaviour amounted to misconduct.

While the nominated judge found that DJ Falvey had not shouted at the complainant, she found that he had raised his voice and spoken in a rude and impatient manner to the complainant. One of his comments to the complainant was found to be demeaning.

In mitigation, the nominated judge took into account that DJ Falvey had accepted and regretted that his language had fallen short of his usual standard.

Decision

The Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice agreed to issue DJ Falvey with formal advice.”

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