A London judge has been found guilty of misconduct after being accused of telling a barrister to “chill out” and mimicking a TV sitcom character.
Judge Nigel Gerald was “discourteous” to the lawyer “by raising his voice and making remarks which showed irritation and a degree of contempt for counsel’s submissions”, according to a disciplinary finding.
The judge, who has overseen civil disputes at Central London County Court, was found guilty of misconduct and given “formal advice”, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) has announced.
In a notice about the case, the JCIO said judges are all expected to be “courteous, patient, tolerant and to respect the dignity of all” in order to protect the profession.
“A barrister, who appeared before HHJ Gerald in court, complained that the judge had behaved in a rude and aggressive manner towards him”, the notice read.
“The complaint included an allegation that HHJ Gerald had told him to ‘chill out’ and that he had mimicked him in the style of a character from a television sitcom.
“An investigation was carried out under the Judicial Conduct (Judicial and other office holders) Rules 2014. Whilst not all the allegations were made out, a nominated judge considered that HHJ Gerald had been discourteous towards counsel by raising his voice and making remarks which showed irritation and adegree of contempt for counsel’s submissions.”
David Brent, the boss at fictional paper merchant Werham Hogg played on The Office by Ricky Gervais, tells his staff in the second season of the show to “chill out” after making an offensive joke.
“Some of you seem to have got off on the wrong foot with me”, he says.
“You didn’t like some of the jokes I told earlier. You’ve got to chill out, yeah, trust me, this is what I do, all right?
“You will never work in a place like this again. This is brilliant. Fact. And you will never have another boss like me. Someone who’s basically a chilled out entertainer.”
The JCIO notice does not say which sitcom character was allegedly mimicked, when the exchange took place, and at which court.
The notice adds: “The nominated judge recommended that HHJ Gerald should be issued with formal advice.
“HHJ Gerald accepted the findings of the nominated judge and extended his apologies and regret for his behaviour.”
The JCIO also refused to say whether the ‘chill out’ allegation had been found proven.
