Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what bullying, harassment and anti-discrimination policies apply to members of the Judiciary; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of training offered in respect of that policy; and whether such training is provided to all (a) full-time and (b) part-time office holders.

There are three related Judicial Grievance policies which cover complaints of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination, systemic complaints and complaints of broader wrongdoing. The grievance policies provide a framework for raising complaints formally or informally. These apply to all judicial office holders; salaried and fee-paid including the magistracy. In addition, the Judicial Guide to Conduct offers assistance to judges, coroners and magistrates about their conduct through the provision of a set of core principles.

The Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. As judicial training is a matter for the independent judiciary, no assessment of training is undertaken by the Ministry of Justice

All new Judicial Office Holders attend courses which include sessions on Conduct and Ethics which make specific reference to the 2012 Equality and Diversity Policy for the Judiciary and the Dignity at Work statement it contains, and further training is provided for judges when they are new to leadership roles.