Judicial Watchdog Reverses Course on 10 Complaints Against Leeds Employment Judge

A judicial watchdog has reversed its decision and will investigate 10 misconduct complaints against an employment tribunal judge in Leeds.

The complaints, filed over seven years, target Philip Lancaster. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office had dismissed most of them without review. But after three complainants launched legal action, the JCIO agreed to reconsider those complaints.

Alison McDermott, one of the complainants, faulted judicial authorities. She said their inaction left others exposed to the same conduct.

The complaints describe bullying, intimidation, table banging and excessive interruptions during hearings overseen by Lancaster.

The JCIO rejected most complaints for two reasons. It said several involved case management, which fell outside its authority to examine. Others lacked a specific time for the alleged misconduct, even though complainants could not obtain hearing transcripts.

One complaint failed for lack of evidence. A tenth was upheld nearly four years after filing, leading to a reprimand for Lancaster.

Nine of the 10 complainants are women. McDermott, Dr. Hinaa Toheed and Susannah Hickman-Gray filed judicial review proceedings against the JCIO.

They contended the watchdog wrongly excluded case management conduct and deemed it procedurally unfair to reject complaints without specific times when transcripts or recordings were unavailable. They also argued the JCIO erred by assessing incidents separately, ignoring their combined impact.

Before a court hearing, the JCIO conceded the points and agreed to probe the complaints.

"If multiple complaints had been made about the same doctor, that would have raised alarm bells and led to an investigation," said Toheed, a GP. "Yet despite repeated concerns about Judge Lancaster's conduct, he continued to preside over cases while complainants were battling simply to be heard."

The women now question Judge Barry Clarke, president of employment tribunals in England and Wales. McDermott and Toheed said they informed him repeatedly of a pattern in complaints against Lancaster, but he took no meaningful steps.

In a letter to Toheed this year, Clarke noted that in recommending formal advice for Lancaster's conduct in her hearing, the mildest reprimand, he considered the judge's previous good record.

"I cannot adequately describe the stress of receiving call after call from different women about Judge Lancaster, describing strikingly similar experiences in his courtroom," McDermott said. "Now, after four years of raising concerns, the JCIO has finally accepted that these complaints must be properly investigated — but only after enormous stress, delay and expense. No justice system worthy of public confidence should operate like that."

Emily Soothill, the lawyer for the three women at Deighton, Pierce Glynn solicitors, called it the first challenge to the JCIO's view of judicial misconduct. She said a proper investigation is crucial to restore public confidence in handling judiciary complaints.

The JCIO stated it erred in rejecting or dismissing several complaints about Employment Judge Lancaster under its initial review per the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023.