Conflict of interest

Conflicts of interest can arise where your occupational, social or personal ties come up against the obligation of judicial office to act impartially.

Critical to all judicial roles, including that of Justice of the Peace, is the need for impartiality. Some roles and activities may, in the eyes of others, for example, the accused, witnesses, victims or the public, seem to indicate that a judge may have a particular view or position which may be in conflict with some aspect of the case before him or her. Even though the judge really is impartial and does set aside his/her personal views some sort of bias might be perceived. A prominent role in a campaign group or political party are obvious examples. There are other examples, which are provided in guidance from the government. These are categories of people whom Scottish Ministers may find it difficult to appoint as Justices of the Peace, unless there are good reasons to the contrary.

Due to their occupations these people may appear to have knowledge of those in court and may not be seen to be impartial:

• Serving police officers
• People who work in the courts
• Other people who regularly appear before the courts, such as members of the prosecution service or of the local authority’s social work department

In deciding whether to appoint someone as a Justice of the Peace, the Scottish Ministers will have regard to whether that person, if appointed, might have to refuse to hear cases on a regular basis in order to avoid a conflict of interest, or the appearance of one.