A circuit judge who fell asleep in court during a hearing has been issued with ‘formal advice for misconduct’.
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) found that His Honour Michael Slater had nodded off during a trial and that this behaviour amounted to misconduct. It was not disclosed what form the ‘formal advice’ took.
The JCIO said judges were expected to display diligence and care in the discharge of their duties and they had to ensure their conduct maintained and enhanced public confidence in the judiciary.
A judge nominated to investigate the matter took into account that Slater had accepted the allegation and apologised, that he was under a great deal of pressure dealing with an ‘unremitting workload’ and that his actions had not derailed the trial. It was also taken into account that Slater addressed the matter with parties in court and offered them a retrial, although neither party chose to take this up.
No details were given by the JCIO of what the case was about, when it was heard or for how long the judge fell asleep.
Slater, a barrister, was appointed to be a circuit judge in November 2016 and deployed to the north eastern circuit, based at Sheffield Combined Court (pictured).
The decision to issue formal advice was taken by the lord chief justice with the lord chancellor’s agreement.
Disciplinary action against a judge for falling asleep is relatively rare. In 2019 a senior judge in the family division was given formal advice for ‘momentarily’ falling asleep, while the same sanction was handed out to an employment tribunal member who ‘failed to remain awake or gave the appearance that she was asleep during a hearing’.
