Judges - Ethics

Judges -- Ethics

Code of Judicial Conduct [McKinney's Consol. Laws of NY, Annot., Vol. 29]

[309] "[J]udges...must respect and honor judicial office as a public trust and strive to enhance and maintain confidence in our legal system."

[313] "An independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary shall be preserved."

[315] "A Judge Should Avoid the Appearance of Impropriety in All of the Judge's Activities.

"A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

"A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

"A judge shall not allow family, social, political or other relationships to influence the judge's judicial conduct or judgment."

[322] "A judge shall be patient, dignified and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity..."

[323] "A judge shall not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers concerning a pending proceeding..."

New York Code of Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) 7000.9 Standards of Conduct

"(a) A judge may be admonished, censured or removed for cause, including but not limited to misconduct in office, persistent failure to perform his duties, habitual intemperance, and conduct on or off the bench prejudicial to the administration of justice; or retired for mental or physical disability preventing the proper performance of his judicial duties."

U13 [524] "The judge must be fair, respectful, impartial, and ultimately, must base all decisions in the case on the particular facts of that case."