A High Court judge has been issued with formal advice for misconduct after issuing a judgment more than a year after the hearing.
Mr Justice Edward Murray delayed in issuing a judgment for 15 months after the hearing and did not give accurate indications to the parties as to when judgment could be expected.
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said the judge had been issued with formal advice for misconduct.
It said the guide to judicial conduct ‘requires judicial office-holders to display diligence and care in the discharge of judicial duties’.
The judge ‘expressed his regret regarding the delay’. In mitigation he said a ‘busy workload and lack of judgment-writing time’ had resulted in the delay. The JCIO added he ‘had reflected on this and recognised that he could have been more proactive about obtaining’ more judgment-writing time.
The JCIO did not release any information on the judgment or the case it involved. Sanctions for misconduct by judicial office-holders are, in order of severity: formal advice, formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.
Murray was admitted to the roll in 1992, later becoming a partner at Allen & Overy. He was appointed as a High Court judge in 2018.
