Constitutional Reform Act 2005

127 Complaints to the Ombudsman

After section 9C of the 2002 Act insert—

“9D Complaints to the Ombudsman

(1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply to a complaint which the complainant—

(a) has made to the Commission or Lord Chancellor in accordance with arrangements under section 9C, and

(b) makes to the Ombudsman not more than 28 days after being notified of the Commission’s or Lord Chancellor’s decision on the complaint.

(2) If the Ombudsman considers that investigation of the complaint is not necessary, he must inform the complainant.

(3) Otherwise he must investigate the complaint.

(4) The Ombudsman may investigate a complaint which the complainant—

(a) has made to the Commission or the Lord Chancellor in accordance with arrangements under section 9C, and

(b) makes to the Ombudsman at any time.

(5) The Ombudsman may investigate a transferred complaint made to him, and no such complaint may be made under the Judicial Appointments Order after the commencement of this section.

(6) The Judicial Appointments Order is the Judicial Appointments Order in Council 2001, which sets out the functions of Her Majesty’s Commissioners for Judicial Appointments.

(7) A transferred complaint is a complaint that lay to those Commissioners (whether or not it was made to them) in respect of the application of procedures for appointment to listed judicial offices before the commencement of this section, but not a complaint that those Commissioners had declined to investigate or on which they had concluded their investigation.

(8) Any complaint to the Ombudsman under this section must be in a form approved by him.”