Ministry, Jack Straw, Win Fight To Keep Names of Judges Disciplined For Misconduct Secret

The Ministry of Justice has won a legal fight to keep private the names of judges who have been disciplined for improper behavior. The Guardian newspaper had wanted the names of the members of the judiciary both to “enhance public confidence in the administration of justice and that secrecy is more likely to engender resentment, suspicion and contempt than enhance respect” and to ensure that judges were not wrongly prosecuted, but a tribunal which dealing specifically with freedom of information issues ruled that judicial reputations, judicial authority and judges’ privacy would be undermined if the Guardian were allowed to publish the names of judges who had been disciplined. However, the Ministry did promise to be more forthcoming about such proceedings from now on.