Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government following recent accusations of connections between Hamas and staff at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whether a tribunal judge's membership of an UNRWA committee could be considered conduct that is capable of compromising judicial independence or propriety, as outlined in the Guide to Judicial Conduct.

All tribunals judges swear an oath to act impartially. Because recusal in general and the conduct of judges in particular, are matters for the independent judiciary, the Government has not sought to assess recusal in the tribunals. The Government is unable to give legal advice to litigants.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office can investigate a potential conflict of interest if, for example, “an appeal court’s criticism of a judicial office holder for failure to declare a potential conflict of interest was so serious as to raise a question of judicial misconduct”. Further information can be found on its website at https://www.complaints.judicialconduct.gov.uk/.