JUDICIAL RECUSALS
The role of a judge is to interpret and apply the law without bias or prejudice. Judges have a duty to sit on the cases allocated to them based primarily on their availability, and must deal with them efficiently avoiding unnecessary delay.
Declinature of jurisdiction, or recusal, refers to the act of a judicial office holder abstaining from taking part in legal proceedings due to a conflict of interest; or in cases where their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Judges can decline to sit; or parties to a case can object to the judge’s involvement by making a motion for declinature. This might involve financial interest or a close family relationship.
More minor conflicts may be declared before the court. The parties to the case can then either object to the judge’s involvement or proceed based on agreement that the interest is suitably insignificant.
Cases where senators, temporary judges, sheriffs principal, sheriffs, summary sheriffs, justices of the peace, or a member of a Scottish tribunal, grant or refuse a formal motion for recusal, or recuse themselves of their own accord, in open court, are recorded for the current year in the table below.
Previous years have been archived.
2024
Date | JOH & Court/Chamber | Case Name/Reference | Motion By | Refused /Granted | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
25/10/2024 | Dr Derek Palmer - MHTS | MHTS/1/24/09/05598/S099 | Dr Derek Palmer | Granted | Prior, direct and extended, professional experience and knowledge of the patient's circumstances, care and treatment. |
19/08/2024 | Elizabeth Dickson - Housing and Property Chamber | FTS/HPC/EV/24/0900 | Elizabeth Dickson, Tribunal Member | Granted | The member is dealing with another case FTS/HPC/RE/24/1240 involving the same parties and property. It could be perceived that any decision made in one case would influence unduly the decision on the other |
01/08/2024 | Mr John Blackwood - Housing and Property Chamber | HPC/EV/24/0566 | Mr John Blackwood | Granted | The member recuses himself from the case as he know the applicant’s representative in a professional capacity as Landlord Registration Officer of East Lothian Council. |
31/07/2024 | Susanne Tanner - Housing and Propery Chamber | FTS/HPC/EV/23/4577 | Susanne Tanner | Granted | Legal member became aware of an apparent conflict during CMD, after submissions made by Applicant’s representative. Solicitor for Applicant confirmed details which confirmed the conflict. Legal member recused herself. |
25/07/2024 | John Blackwood - Housing and Property Chamber | FTS/HPC/EV/24/1026 | John Blackwood | Granted | The Applicant Representative is a member of the Scottish Landlords Association of which John Blackwood the ordinary member on the tribunal panel is the chair-person on the Association. |
17/06/2024 | Sheriff George Jamieson - Kilmarnock Sheriff Court | KIL-F172-18 | Ex Proprio Motu | Granted | I was involved in managing contempt of court proceedings between the parties in KIL-B445-22. This is the principal application, a minute to vary commenced on 22 September 2022, originally for increased contact, now for a residence order in favour of the pursuer. I may not be perceived as having the necessary degree of impartiality owing to the highly conflicted nature of the principal proceedings and my involvement in managing the related action. |
10/06/2024 | Sheriff Anthony McGeehan - Greenock Sheriff Court | Siobhan Mary Donaldson v David Lyndon Brown | Ex Proprio Motu | Granted | Defender advised immediately prior to Proof that a witness for the Defender knew the Sheriff, was a friend of his family and had a shared relative. The witness only identified this relationship the day before the Proof. The witness was 1 of only 2 witnesses for the Defender and her credibility and reliability would require to be decided on. In the circumstances, the Proof was adjourned to avoid any perception of impartiality. |
15/05/2024 | Summary Sheriff M Hodge - Aberdeen Sheriff Court | ABE-SG67-23 - Nick Hufstetler v KNC GROUNDWORKS LIMITED + others | Summary Sheriff | Granted | Respondent company is a local company to the Sheriff and have provided a quote for work and may be required to undertake work in future. |
21/04/2024 | Ahsan Khan - Housing and Property Chamber | FTS/HPC/PF/23/3604 & FTS/HPC/PF/23/4523 | Ahsan Khan | Granted | Potential conflict of interest with witness in these cases. |
10/04/2024 | Sheriff James Varney - Greenock Sheriff Court | Barry McLaughlin v Louise Watt | Pursuer | Refused | The sheriff refused to recuse for the following reasons: (i) No such active bias was shown (ii) No hostile treatment was shown As a consequence, no such breach of human rights or fair trial would occur. |
08/03/2024 | Lord Malcolm - Court of Session | P394/22: Petition of J Halley for Judicial Review | Petitioner and Reclaimer (John Halley) | Refused | The reclaimer moved for Lord Malcolm to recuse himself on the basis he was Vice Dean of Faculty from 1996-1997 and was likely to have knowledge of some material events referred to in this matter. Lord Malcolm refused to recuse himself on the basis that he was aware of nothing from his time as the Vice Dean of Faculty which would require him to withdraw from the bench dealing with this reclaiming motion. |
08/03/2024 | Lord Beckett - Court of Session | P394/22: Petition of John Halley for JR | Petitioner and Reclaimer (John Halley) | Refused | The reclaimer moved for Lord Beckett to recuse himself on the basis his Lordship had a long professional and personal proximity to the Lord Advocate and her husband Lord Turnbull. Lord Beckett refused to recuse himself on the basis that while he had professionally and personally encountered the Lord Advocate and Lord Turnbull in neither case was that to the extent which would require his recusal in a case of this nature. |
08/03/2024 | Lord Tyre - Court of Session | P394/22: Petition of John Halley for Judicial Review | Petitioner and Reclaimer (John Halley) | Refused | The reclaimer moved for Lord Tyre to recuse himself on the basis his Lordship dealt with an earlier application by the reclaimer for leave to appeal from the EAT and did not engage with the issues of corruption the reclaimer sought to raise; the reclaimer was concerned Lord Tyre would adopt a similar approach in this matter. Lord Tyre refused to recuse himself from this matter, it not being the case that he failed to engage with the issues of corruption that the reclaimer raised in the separate application but rather that the procedural manner in which the reclaimer sought to raise these issues, by application to the nobile officium, was incompetent in the EAT appeal process. A full explanation of the reasons why it was incompetent was given in that separate process. |
12/02/2024 | Sheriff Nicola Patrick - Dunoon Sheriff Court | PF v Scott Currie | Defence | Granted | Sheriff conducted lengthy criminal case in which the complainer in this criminal case was found not guilty. Sheriff heard evidence from two of the children together with an expert witness in relation to potential coaching and manipulation of the children, and has formed a view in relation to that evidence. In addition submissions were invited in relation to recusal and the Defender was seeking the Sheriff to recuse herself. |
12/01/2024 | Sheriff Anthony McGlennan - Stranraer Sheriff Court | STR-F59-23 | Ex proprio motu | Granted | The Sheriff had presided over a previous action involving a different child in which the current defender had opposed a counterclaim for contact to which he rejected her objections to contact and made an order in favour of that childs father. Defender made a subsequent judicial complaint regarding Sheriff's conduct during the action, which was investigated and Sheriff was exonerated. The defender's solicitor submitted that his client considered that the Sheriff should recuse himself in light of the aforementioned involvement in her other case and the subsequent complaint on the basis that the perception of partiality may be obtained. |
11/01/2024 | Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown - Dundee Sheriff Court | Katie McKenzie v Christopher Sinclair | Katie McKenzie (Pursuer) | Refused | The Sheriff refused to recuse for the following reasons: (i) and (iii) As a general rule, a previous finding or previous findings by a judge against a party will rarely, of themselves, provide a ground for disqualification. (ii) [The Sheriff's] husband's relative is neither a witness nor a party to the action. (iv) [The Sheriff] am not listed on the pursuer's list of witnesses. |
03/01/2024 | Sheriff V Lunny - Glasgow Sheriff Court | GLW-F1148-21 | Ex proprio motu | Granted | The Sheriff's son and the daughter of the parties attend the same Primary School. |