How to Complain About a Judge in the Family Court

Part of: Recusal of a Judge

You can complain about a judge in the family court, but only about how the judge behaved, and only within three months. Rudeness, shouting, offensive language or a judgment left unwritten for months can go to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO). If magistrates heard your case, the complaint goes to a local advisory committee instead. A complaint cannot change the order, though. If what you need is a different decision, the route is an appeal, and that clock usually runs for only 21 days. This guide explains both routes in England and Wales, and how to tell which one you need.

If a hearing has left you feeling wronged, book a free initial consultation and one of our specialists will give you initial advice on which route fits, while there is still time to use it.

What can you complain about a judge for?

You can complain about personal behaviour that falls below the standards in the Guide to Judicial Conduct. The JCIO publishes two lists, one of things it can investigate and one of things it will turn away. The table below puts them side by side, in its own terms.

In short, the dividing line is between how the judge behaved and what the judge decided. Much of what feels most unfair in a family case sits on the right-hand side, because a judge preferring the other parent’s account is part of deciding. But that says nothing about whether you are right. It means the remedy lies in the court process instead of the complaints system.

Should you complain about a judge or appeal? A three-question check

Pick the answer closest to what happened. The result names the route that fits and shows how much time each clock has left. It also says what the check cannot decide for you. Nothing you choose leaves this page.

How to complain about a judge to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office

The JCIO supports the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice, who share responsibility for judicial discipline. It deals with misconduct complaints against salaried and fee-paid court judges, tribunal judges and members, and coroners. Complaints go through its online portal, and it takes five steps to get one right.

1. Check it is about behaviour. The JCIO defines an allegation of misconduct as one about the judge’s personal behaviour, not about a decision or order, or how the judge managed the case.
2. Write down exactly what happened. Rule 8 of the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023 says a complaint must give your name and an address or email, identify the judge, describe the misconduct with relevant details, and give the date. “The judge was rude to me” is not enough. The JCIO wants the actual words, the tone, and where it happened.
3. Estimate the time of each incident. If it happened in a hearing, give the court and your closest estimate of the time, such as “about half an hour before the lunch break”. A caseworker usually listens to a one-hour window of the recording around each estimate (JCIO, Making a complaint).
4. Send it within three months. Use the portal on the JCIO website, because the JCIO does not answer complaints that arrive at its general enquiries email address.
5. Know what to expect. The JCIO acknowledges an accepted complaint within two working days, and a caseworker aims to write within 15 working days. After that, you get an update every four weeks, and the JCIO aims to finish within 26 weeks.

What a finding of misconduct means for the judge

If the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice find misconduct, the possible sanctions are formal advice, a formal warning, a reprimand or removal from office. The power to give advice, a warning or a reprimand comes from section 108(3) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. When they issue a sanction, the JCIO publishes a disciplinary statement. Until then, information about a disciplinary case that identifies a judge is confidential under section 139 of the same Act.

Complaints about magistrates or court staff

Magistrates also hear some family cases. However, the JCIO cannot respond to complaints about them or pass them on. Write instead to the advisory committee for the area your court is in, within three months, and ask the court staff which committee that is if you are unsure (JCIO, Magistrates complaints).

Court staff are a different matter again, because judges and magistrates do not work for HM Courts & Tribunals Service. HMCTS handles complaints about how its staff dealt with your case. It aims to reply within 10 working days, then a senior manager can review the reply, and after that its User Investigations Team can take a fresh look (HMCTS complaints procedure).

If you are unhappy with how your complaint was handled

The Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman can look at how the JCIO or an advisory committee handled a complaint. Write within 28 days of the final decision, or sooner if you have waited more than six months for one (GOV.UK, Complain to the ombudsman). The ombudsman can recommend an apology or a change to the process. However, it cannot reopen your case or review the judge’s decision.

Why an appeal is usually what you need instead

Most people who want to complain about a judge after a family hearing want something the complaints system cannot give. The JCIO lists what it cannot do. It cannot get you compensation or get involved in your case. It also cannot have a judge recused, tell a judge what to decide, or make a new decision. The only way to challenge a judge’s decision is through the courts.

Permission to appeal and the 21-day clock

Most appeals against an order of a district judge, a circuit judge, a recorder or magistrates need permission (FPR r.30.3). You can ask the judge for permission at the hearing where the decision was made, or ask the appeal court in your appellant’s notice. For a decision by magistrates, the request always goes to the appeal court. Either way, the court gives permission only where the appeal has a real prospect of success, or there is some other compelling reason to hear it.

Time is the hard part. The notice is due within 21 days of the decision unless the judge directed a different period, and within 7 days for a case management decision (r.30.4). Only the appeal court can extend that time limit (r.30.7). The appeal court allows an appeal where the decision was wrong, or unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity (r.30.12). Conduct that stopped you putting your case can fall into that second category. Our guide to grounds for appeal in the family court explains each ground. If your order is about where your children live or the time they spend with each parent, see how to appeal a child arrangements order.

You can also do both. A complaint and an appeal run separately, so nothing stops you raising the judge’s behaviour with the JCIO while you appeal the order. Because the clocks differ, deal with the appeal first: it has 21 days, while the complaint has three months.

Will a complaint about a judge affect your case?

It runs separately from your case and cannot change it. The JCIO says it cannot get involved in an ongoing case, and it cannot move your case to another judge. A live case does not pause the time limit either. The JCIO says an ongoing case will not usually be an exceptional reason to accept a late complaint, so waiting for the final hearing can cost you the complaint.

If you believe the judge cannot deal with the rest of your case fairly, you make that request to the judge in the case itself. Our guide to recusal of a judge covers when a judge should step aside and how to ask. For a hearing still to come, our guide to addressing a magistrate or judge helps you keep the exchange calm and on the record.

How to complain about a judge: frequently asked questions

General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.