Complain about a judge, magistrate, tribunal member or coroner
You can complain if you’re unhappy with a judge, magistrate, tribunal member or coroner’s:
- behaviour
- language
- conduct
There’s a different complaints process in Scotland.
You must make your complaint within 3 months.
You cannot use the complaints process to challenge a decision or sentence. You should get legal advice about how to appeal.
How to complain
There’s a different process for tribunals, magistrates’ courts and judges sitting in other courts.
Tribunals
Contact the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
Magistrates’ court
Contact the advisory committee for the area your court is in. You can ask a member of staff at court if you’re not sure which advisory committee to contact.
Judges sitting in other courts
This includes:
- Crown Court judges
- coroners
- district judges
You can complain online on the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) website.
If you’re not happy with how your complaint was handled
You can ask the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman (JACO) to look into how your complaint was handled.
After you get a decision about your complaint from the Tribunal President, advisory committee or JCIO, you’ll have 28 days to contact JACO.
You can contact JACO sooner if you’ve been waiting more than 6 months for the Tribunal President, advisory committee or JCIO to make a decision.