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JCIO 103/25
Date: 23 April 2026
A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said:
The Lord Chancellor, with the Lady Chief Justice’s agreement, has removed Miss Louise Hall of the Birmingham and Solihull Bench from office for failure, without a reasonable excuse, to meet the minimum sittings required of a magistrate.
Facts
On appointment, magistrates sign an undertaking to sit for at least 13 full days or 26 half-days per year and to resign if they fail to do so without an acceptable reason.
The summary process in the Judicial Conduct (Magistrates) Rules 2023 enables a conduct advisory committee to recommend a magistrate’s removal from office without further investigation where they have failed, without reasonable excuse, to meet the minimum sitting requirements of their role.
Midlands Conduct Advisory Committee recommendation
The Midlands Conduct Advisory Committee recommended Miss Hall’s removal from office after she failed to meet the minimum sitting requirements for three consecutive years, frequently vacating sittings without prior notice. She had also not yet completed any sittings in the 2025-26 sitting year, having sat most recently in December 2024. Repeated attempts were made to contact Miss Hall regarding her sittings, including a formal invitation to provide representations, but she did not respond.
Decision
The Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor agreed that Miss Hall had failed to meet the minimum sitting requirements without a reasonable excuse and accepted the recommendation to remove her from office.
Sanctions for misconduct by judicial office-holders are set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. They are, in order of severity: formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.
For more information about the Office, including details on how to make a complaint against a judicial office holder, you can visit the JCIO website at: Judicial Conduct Investigations website
