Magistrate refused to return to court and deliver verdict

Formal warning

A magistrate has been formally warned after refusing to return to court to deliver a verdict, and subsequently making unsubstantiated accusations against her fellow panel members.

Shanelle Nwanaebi JP, sitting in the South East London Local Justice Area, was the subject of a complaint brought by a member of court staff. The complaint alleged that she refused to return to court to deliver a verdict and behaved in an “argumentative and offensive manner” towards her colleagues.

Nwanaebi told the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) that she had left because she found the situation difficult to continue with and “felt justice was not being done”.

But Nwanaebi denied behaving in such a manner, and claimed her colleagues had reacted adversely to being challenged by a younger magistrate.

Following an investigation, the nominated committee member (NCM) found that while Nwanaebi’s words were challenging, they did not cross the line into offensive. However, her refusal to return to the courtroom and deliver the majority verdict was found to constitute misconduct. The post-hearing accusations she made against her colleagues were also found to be unsupported by any evidence and similarly amounted to misconduct.

In the disciplinary statement, the NCM described the decision not to return to court as a “serious failure to uphold judicial responsibilities”, compounded by the unwarranted accusations. She recommended a reprimand for serious misconduct.

In mitigation, the NCM noted that Nwanaebi had no prior findings of misconduct, had expressed remorse, and had since sat alongside one of her colleagues without incident.

However, Mr Justice Keehan and the Lord Chancellor disagreed with the NCM’s recommendation and determined that, on the facts, a formal warning, one level below a reprimand, was the more appropriate sanction.

On appointment, magistrates sign a declaration and undertaking requiring them to maintain the dignity, standing and good reputation of the magistracy at all times.