The Great Seal of the State of California

Governing Provisions

The Commission on Judicial Performance was established by legislative constitutional amendment approved by the voters in November 1960. The Commission's authority is set forth in article VI, sections 8, 18, 18.1 and 18.5 of the California Constitution. In 1966, 1976, 1988, 1994 and most recently in 1998, the Constitution was amended to change various aspects of the Commission's work.

Rules of the Commission on Judicial Performance

Article VI, section 18(i) of the Constitution authorizes the Commission to make rules for conducting investigations and formal proceedings. The Rules of the Commission on Judicial Performance, rules 101 through 138, were adopted by the Commission on October 24, 1996, and took effect December 1, 1996. The rules have been amended periodically thereafter.

Policy Declarations of the Commission on Judicial Performance

The Policy Declarations of the Commission on Judicial Performance detail the Commission's internal procedures and existing policies. A Code of Ethics for Commission Members is set forth in Division VI of the Policy Declarations.

Government Code

The Commission is subject to Government Code sections 68701 through 68756. Additionally, the Government Code controls the Commission's handling of judges' disability retirement applications, pursuant to sections 75060 through 75064 and sections 75560 through 75564.

Code of Civil Procedure

The Commission is responsible for enforcing the restrictions on judges' receipt of gifts and honoraria as set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 170.9. On February 28, 2011, the Commission adopted the gift limitation amount of $370.00 for purposes of CCP section 170.9.

Code of Judicial Ethics

The Code of Judicial Ethics, adopted by the California Supreme Court, establishes standards for ethical conduct for judges on and off the bench and for candidates for judicial office. All members of the judiciary must comply with the Code. As stated in the Preamble to the Code: "Compliance is required to preserve the integrity of the bench and to ensure the confidence of the public."

California Rules of Court

Rules 9.60, 9.61, 10.603, 10.703, and 10.1016 of the California Rules of Court pertain to the Commission on Judicial Performance.

Recent Changes In The Law

Commission Rules and Policy Declarations

Following public comment on interim rule amendments which were adopted in March 2011, the commission adopted further amendments to the interim rules on October 19, 2011:

Amendments were adopted to rules 114(b) and 116(b) concerning newly presented evidence at a judge's appearance before the commission to object to a notice of intended private or public admonishment, and to rule 111.5 concerning correction of an advisory letter.
Rules 114 (a) and (d), 116 (a) and (d), and 108(e) were amended to state that a judge may demand an appearance before the commission to "object" to, rather than to "contest," a notice of intended admonishment. Similar amendments were made to policy declarations 2.1 and 3.9. [See Report Concerning Adoption on October 19, 2011 of Amendments to Rules of the Commission on Judicial Performance.]

On March 23, 2011, after circulating the proposed changes for public comment, the Commission adopted amendments to its rules:

Rule 102 was amended to add subdivision (p), authorizing the Commission to disclose information revealing possible violations of the Political Reform Act to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Rule 109 was amended to add subsection (5) to subdivision (c), which authorizes the Commission to conduct a staff inquiry or preliminary investigation of a complaint against a subordinate judicial officer that was closed by the local court because the subordinate judicial officer resigned or retired.
Rule 122(g)(2) was amended to extend provisions concerning discovery depositions until December 31, 2012.
Rule 129(b) was amended to authorize the special masters to shorten the time for submission of proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in formal proceedings.
Rule 129(c) was amended to shorten the time for submission of the report of the special masters and to provide for extensions of time.
Subdivision (c) of rule 130, which authorized the submission of reply briefs to the Commission during formal proceedings, was deleted.

Code of Judicial Ethics

There were no amendments to the Code of Judicial Ethics in 2011.

Rules of Court

No amendments were made to the Rules of Court pertaining to the Commission in 2011.

Code of Civil Procedure

In 2011, there were no substantive changes made to the Code of Civil Procedure relating to the work of the Commission.