Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who instigated the complaint against Judge Charles Falk to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) in April 2022; whether that complaint fell outside of the JCIO's three month limit for investigation of complaints; whether the investigation was carried out by a panel or a single person; how long that investigation took; and whether that investigation included interviews with (a) Judge Charles Falk and (b) any other relevant people involved in the case.

The independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) considers complaints in accordance with the Judicial Conduct (Judicial and other office holders) Rules 2014.

The rules enable the JCIO, with the agreement of a nominated judge, to consider information received in the absence of a complaint as if it were a complaint. That process was duly followed in the matter regarding Judge Falk. After careful assessment by the JCIO, there was no evidence of misconduct by the judge and the matter was dismissed.

With the exception of published information about disciplinary sanctions, information about judicial disciplinary matters is confidential, and further details cannot therefore be provided.