A High Court judge has been issued with a formal warning for misconduct over delays in handing down judgments in two separate cases.
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said it received two separate complaints from legal representatives regarding ‘significant’ delays by Mr Justice Derek Sweeting, a former chair of the bar, in handing down judgments.
The first complaint related to a hearing which took place in July 2024 with the final judgment handed down 11 months later. The same complaint also alleged that a draft judgment, which was circulated in June 2025, contained ‘serious inaccuracies suggestive of serious irregularity in the drafting process, such as the possible use of artificial intelligence’.
The second complaint related to a hearing in October 2024 with the final judgment circulated eight months later. The complainant alleged the delay caused ‘substantial practical, procedural and financial detriment’, the JCIO said.
The judge accepted the delays, saying they were caused by reasons including workload pressures and personal circumstances during summer 2024.
A JCIO spokesperson said: ‘In relation to the first complaint, he accepted that serious drafting errors occurred and explained they arose from mistakes made under pressure and were not indicative of having used AI in relation to the judgment. He added that he had since caught up with his outstanding judgments.’
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An investigation found the delays amounted to misconduct.
Considering the first complaint, while the drafting errors were ‘serious and required correction, they did not independently constitute misconduct.’ The investigation found they instead formed part of the ‘overall lack of diligence associated with the delay’.
No evidence that AI had been used in producing the judgment was found.
Sweeting had received a sanction of formal advice for a delayed judgment in September 2023, the investigation noted, and ‘had not expressed remorse for the delays or the errors in one of the judgments’.
The lady chief justice, with the lord chancellor’s agreement, issued Sweeting with a formal warning for misconduct.
Sanctions for misconduct by judicial officer-holders are, in order of severity, formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.
