England: Magistrate reprimanded for giving defendant character reference
Reading time: 1 minute
A magistrate who provided a character reference for a defendant in a criminal case in which he was involved has been reprimanded.
Zahur Akhtar, of the Black Country Bench, is among seven magistrates and judges to be disciplined or face disqualification in the past month, The Times reports.
A spokesman for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) said: “The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice concluded that Mr Akhtar’s actions amounted to misuse of his judicial status.”
In another case, a magistrate was disciplined for watching “irrelevant material on a personal device” during a case.
One magistrate was investigated for failing to tell court authorities about criminal charges against him.
In 2017 there were 2,126 complaints made to the JCIO, with the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice taking action in 42 of these.
Action has been taken in 30 cases so far this year.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
