Conduct of Judge

[SuzyLee]

Hi, Could someone please advise me whether it is normal procedure for a Judge to give their personal email to a Claimant in a Civil Case? The Claimant had personal and private emails with the Judge without knowledge of the defendants. Also, is it normal procedure for the Claimant to write up the Judgement which was written in such a way that it was inevitably in their favour? Thank you, I would be grateful for some clarity.

[Manxman]

That all sounds very irregular.

Erm... how do you know this has happened? For example, how do you know that the claimant "wrote up the Judgment"? Surely you would only know this if the judge told you. Have they?

You don't simply mean that the judge adopted the wording of an order as requested by the claimant, do you?

[SuzyLee]

That all sounds very irregular.

Erm... how do you know this has happened? For example, how do you know that the claimant "wrote up the Judgment"? Surely you would only know this if the judge told you. Have they?

You don't simply mean that the judge adopted the wording of an order as requested by the claimant, do you?

We were the defendants and the claimants definitely communicated with the Judge by private email which we were not privy to. The Claimant told the judge they would write the Order and it was agreed. We submitted a corrected Order but it was refused and this has had the effect that the Order favours the claimant financially and was not correct. We cannot afford an appeal but the whole conduct of the case was erm.... strange. The fact that they communicated privately surely cannot be correct. Everything we submitted went through the Court as it should.

[Manxman]

You still haven't explained how you KNOW that the claimant and judge exchanged private emails (that you admit you were not privy to!) or how you know that the claimant "wrote" the judge's order.

The only way that I can see that you could possibly know this is if the judge told you. Are you saying the judge has admitted all this to you?

And as I said in my earler post, there is nothing necessarily wrong with any party to a court case submitting a draft of an order they would like to see the judge make. The fact that you submitted an amendment to the claimant's suggested wording, but the judge rejected your amendment, does not necessarily mean that anything untoward has gone on. Your suggested amendment may simply have been wrong. The fact that it favours the cliamant is irrelevant - unless you can justify why it is wrong.

[SuzyLee]

You still haven't explained how you KNOW that the claimant and judge exchanged private emails (that you admit you were not privy to!) or how you know that the claimant "wrote" the judge's order.

The only way that I can see that you could possibly know this is if the judge told you. Are you saying the judge has admitted all this to you?

And as I said in my earler post, there is nothing necessarily wrong with any party to a court case submitting a draft of an order they would like to see the judge make. The fact that you submitted an amendment to the claimant's suggested wording, but the judge rejected your amendment, does not necessarily mean that anything untoward has gone on. Your suggested amendment may simply have been wrong. The fact that it favours the cliamant is irrelevant - unless you can justify why it is wrong.

Sorry, the Claimant told us that they were communicating with the Judge by private email and redacted the Judge's email address. The Barrister told the Judge they would draft the order and did so but incorrectly so we sent our own amended draft to show the calculations were in error, which we could justify and was true. (It makes a difference as to the costs etc) The Judge just went along with their order and they communicated by private email. I only want to know whether this is normal for a Judge to do so because it does not seem appropriate. I am not coming from a place of "sour grapes" I just do not agree with the way it was handled. We were litigants in person and at a disadvantage with no help from the Judge.