JCIO 26/26

   

A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said:

The Lady Chief Justice, with the Lord Chancellor’s agreement, has issued Employment Judge Laura Howden-Evans with formal advice for misconduct.

Facts

The Guide to Judicial Conduct states that judicial office holders should display diligence and care in the discharge of their judicial duties.

The JCIO received a complaint that Employment Judge Laura Howden-Evans had not yet made a determination of a reconsideration application.

On being notified of the complaint, Employment Judge Howden-Evans subsequently listed the case for a hearing to consider the reconsideration application. However, the result is that the reconsideration application will have been heard more than 22 months after the application was made.

With Employment Judge Howden-Evans’ consent, this matter was considered under the expedited process in the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023. The expedited process allows the JCIO to advise the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice that formal advice or a formal warning should be issued where the facts are not in dispute, and the conduct is very likely to amount to misconduct warranting one of those outcomes.

Employment Judge Laura Howden-Evans’ Representations

In representations on the complaint, Employment Judge Howden-Evans apologised for the delay and explained in detail a number of difficult personal challenges she had experienced in recent years.

Decision

After careful consideration, the Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor agreed with the JCIO’s recommendation to issue Employment Judge Howden Evans with formal advice. Although the judge had previously received formal advice for delays in two cases in January 2026, they noted that both the earlier and more recent matters arose from the same set of circumstances. Taking this, together with the extensive mitigation provided by the judge, into account, they considered that the imposition of a more serious sanction of formal warning would be disproportionate on this occasion. 
 

Notes for Editors

Media queries in relation to the JCIO should be made in the first instance to the Judicial Press Office - telephone 020 7073 4852 or via email - press.enquiries@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk 

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