District judge who raised his voice issued with formal advice

A district judge who raised his voice and spoke rudely to someone in court had been issued with formal advice for misconduct. 

A party to a case complained to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) that district judge Falvey had been ‘discourteous towards them and shouted at them during a hearing’.

Falvey admitted to ‘showing a degree of irritation and acknowledged that his manner of speaking to the complainant fell short of his usual standards’. He denied shouting but ‘accepted and regretted that his language had fallen short of his usual standard’.

A spokesperson for the JCIO said: ‘The Guide to Judicial Conduct states that an office holder is expected to be “courteous, patient, tolerant and should respect the dignity of all”.’

An investigation found Falvey had not shouted at the complainant but he had ‘raised his voice and spoken in a rude and impatient manner to the complainant’. Finding his behaviour amounted to misconduct, the investigation also found one of Falvey’s comments to the complainant was ‘demeaning’.

The lady chief justice, with the lord chancellor’s agreement, issued Falvey with formal advice for misconduct. Sanctions for misconduct by judicial office-holders are, in order of severity, formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.