Appeal judges - relationship to judge under appeal

Hi All,

Delicate one here for which I would appreciate advice / thoughts..

I have an oral hearing to consider permission to appeal. It is before a different judge at the same court as the judge under appeal. I have a photo of the appeal judge and the original judge standing together grinning at a social do, easily found online by googling their names. Therefore, I would argue, it seems inappropriate that this judge hears my appeal application. How best to raise this without risking being held in contempt of court?

I was thinking of asking the appeal judge at the beginning of the hearing whether she had a relationship with the other judge outside of a strictly professional capacity. If she says yes, then I suggest perhaps she shouldn''t hear my application. If she says no, I produce the picture and say an independently-minded person might consider otherwise.

Any thoughts? Or do I send it in in advance with a diplomatically phrased cover note so it doesn''t come across as an ambush? As a more general point, why on earth must appeals go to a judge in the same court as the judge under appeal? They''re effectively colleagues. What does one have to do to get a fair hearing in the family courts?!!

Umm. My thought would be that judges are human beings too and they are perfectly entitled to go to social events and be pictured with colleagues. As a professional I would not allow my friendship with colleagues cloud my judgement on the facts of the case. I think it is very unlikely that a judge would take that risk.
If you raise this picture as evidence of unsuitability to hear an appeal, I fear you would just irritate the judge. I believe you found the judge in your case to be hostile. I am afraid you are going the right way to create the same feeling again .
My advice would be to forget the picture, stick to the facts of the case and produce sound evidence to back up your arguments.

Hadenoughnow

The legal world is actually quite small, and many professionals know each other in a professional capacity and will meet each other at social events, sometimes those events are captured by a photographer. It''s not proof of a long-lasting and solid friendship. If you are bored enough you can find online photos of me with various legal professionals at social events - it doesn''t mean that I have personal friendships with them or that knowing them impacts on or influences my professional judgement

If you try to use the photo (which is only proof the two were at the same social event, nothing else), it may well backfire on you. You would be , in effect, disputing the appeal judge''s professionalism and ability to do her job; based purely on one photo.

I agree with Hadenoughnow = focus on the facts.

Thanks both RubyTuesday and Hadenoughnow, good advice. The paper dismissal suggests that the appeal judge didn''t read my notice so I will focus on that.