Judges warned to keep out of debate on appeals court

Judges have been warned to steer clear of the referendum campaign surrounding the proposed setting-up of a new Court of Appeal.

The move followed comments from the Chief Justice that the workload of the Supreme Court had reached an “indefensible and unsustainable” level.

Mrs Justice Susan Denham was speaking in the context of the Oct 4 poll on creating the institution intended to ease delays in the appeals process. While stressing that as a judge she should not advocate how people should vote in any referendum, or enter a political debate Ms Justice Denham said: “However, it seems incumbent on me as Chief Justice and as head of one of our three branches of government [to] — in some way — set out the context in which we operate and within which people are making decisions.”