A High Court judge has been removed from a child welfare case after she was caught saying the mother was trying ‘every trick in the book’ to avoid answering difficult questions.
Mrs Justice Judd made the comments during a private telephone conversation with her clerk that was accidentally broadcast to people taking part in the hearing.
Her laptop, which was closed but still connected to the virtual courtroom, had been brought to her office by a member of court staff.
She then privately called her clerk where she said the mother in a child welfare case of hers was pretending to have a cough and was ‘trying every trick in the book’ to avoid answering difficult questions.
Court of Appeal judges have decided that another judge should take control of the case.
Mrs Justice Judd (pictured) has been removed from a child welfare case after she was caught saying the mother was trying ‘every trick in the book’ to avoid answering difficult questions
Mrs Justice Judd had been overseeing a private, partly-virtual – or hybrid, hearing in the Family Division of the High Court, earlier this month.
She had been sitting in a courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
The woman, and lawyers representing her, had also been in the courtroom.
Other people and lawyers involved had been taking part via an online link.
Detail of what happened has emerged after the child’s mother asked Court of Appeal judges to consider the case, at a public hearing.
She had asked Mrs Justice Judd to step down from the case.
Mrs Justice Judd had refused because she thought that the ‘process of a fair trial’ had not been ‘undermined’.
The woman then mounted an appeal, saying Mrs Justice Judd’s comments were capable of ‘giving rise to a real possibility of bias’.
Appeal judges Lord Justice Bean, Lady Justice King and Lady Justice Nicola Davies have upheld the woman’s challenge and decided that Mrs Justice Judd should step down from the case.
The three appeal judges, who concluded that a ‘fair-minded observer’ might think Mrs Justice Judd had formed an ‘unfair view’ of the woman, have outlined their decision in a written ruling published online.
Judges began overseeing court hearings via computer links earlier this year in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Lady Justice King said what had happened was undoubtedly a consequence of the ‘tremendous pressure’ family court judges were under as the they tried to ‘keep the show on the road’.
She explained, in the appeal ruling, how the woman had been giving evidence, in the courtroom, in front of Mrs Justice Judd.
The woman had said she felt unwell.
Mrs Justice Judd had decided that she should go home and continue giving evidence remotely.
The hearing had ended for the day, and a member of court staff had taken Mrs Justice Judd’s closed laptop into her room, at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Mrs Justice Judd had then had a phone conversation with her clerk, not realising that the link to the virtual courtroom was still ‘open’.
Court of Appeal judges have decided that another judge should take control of the case. Pictured: Royal Courts of Justice
‘The judge was therefore overheard having a private conversation on the telephone with her clerk about (the woman) by a number of people who still remained on the call,’ said Lady Justice King, in the appeal court ruling.
‘During the course of that conversation, the judge’s frustration at what represented a further delay in a case which was already substantially overrunning its three-week time estimate, manifested itself in a number of pejorative comments made by her about (the woman) including that she was pretending to have a cough and was trying ”every trick in the book” in order to avoid answering difficult questions.’
She said there was no suggestion that, at ‘any time prior to these comments’, Mrs Justice Judd had shown any bias or conducted a ‘difficult hearing’ with less than ‘scrupulous fairness’.
‘What happened is undoubtedly a consequence of the tremendous pressure under which family judges at all levels find themselves at present,’ said Lady Justice King.
‘All over the country judges are trying, against powerful odds, to ”keep the show on the road” during the pandemic for the sake of the children involved.
‘They are faced daily, as are the court staff and practitioners, with all the difficulties, technological and otherwise, presented by remote hearings generally and hybrid hearings in particular.’
Lady Justice King said appeal judges had ‘considerable sympathy’ for Mrs Justice Judd but felt that her comments fell ‘on the wrong side of the line’.
She said the fact that what Mrs Justice Judd had said was intended to be private did not ‘salvage the situation’.
Lady Justice King said Mrs Justice Judd greatly regretted what had happened and was a ‘hard-working judge’.