If you believe a court, a judge or a member of court staff has not treated you correctly, you can file a complaint with the board of that court. The complaint must be submitted within one year of the conduct you are complaining about, and each court has a complaints procedure setting out how it is handled.
One limitation decides most cases before they start. A complaint cannot be used to challenge a judicial decision. Disagreement with a ruling, with how evidence was weighed or with the outcome of a case is dealt with by appeal, not by complaint. What the complaints procedure covers is conduct: the way you were treated, the manner of communication, delay in handling a case, or administrative failures.
What to put in the complaint
Address it to the board of the court concerned and keep it factual. State your name and address and the case number if there is one, describe what happened, when and who was involved, explain why you consider the treatment incorrect, and say what you are asking for. Attach documents that support the account.
Complaints that mix conduct with dissatisfaction about the ruling tend to be declared inadmissible as a whole. If your complaint really is about conduct, keep the substance of the decision out of it.
How the complaint is handled
The court acknowledges receipt and investigates. Depending on the procedure and the nature of the complaint, you may be invited to explain it, and the person complained about is given an opportunity to respond. The board then gives a reasoned written decision on whether the complaint is well founded.
The outcome is a finding, not compensation and not a change to any judgment. Where a complaint is upheld it can lead to measures within the organisation and to changes in working practice, and courts publish annual figures on complaints received.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome
Where a complaint concerns the conduct of a judge and you consider the response inadequate, the matter can be brought to the attention of the Procurator General at the Supreme Court, who has the power to investigate and, in serious cases, to bring disciplinary proceedings before the Supreme Court. That is an exceptional route, reserved for serious misconduct rather than dissatisfaction with how a case went.
Challenging a judge in your case
A complaint is not the way to remove a judge from your case. Where there are facts or circumstances that could affect judicial impartiality, the remedy is a challenge, which must be made during the proceedings and as soon as the grounds become known. That is a procedural application decided by a separate panel, not a complaint to the board.
Advice
If something has gone wrong in the handling of your case, the first question is which route fits: appeal against the decision, a challenge to the judge, or a complaint about conduct. Choosing wrongly usually means losing the opportunity to use the right one in time. Please contact Law & More if you would like advice on which applies.
