There are two ways for the Commission to consider a
complaint of misconduct made against a judge of the state unified court system: upon
receipt of a written complaint signed by the complainant, or upon its own motion based
upon information brought to its attention from some source other than a complainant (such
as a newspaper article).
The Judiciary Law requires that complaints against
judges be in writing and signed. Complaints do not have to be sworn or
notarized. A complainant may make a complaint by filling out and submitting a signed Complaint Form, or by writing and signing a letter which
describes the alleged misconduct. Such letters should be as detailed as possible,
including such information as the name of the judge, the court, the name of the case, the
name of the attorneys, the date or dates on which the misconduct allegedly occurred, a
description of the alleged misconduct, etc.
The Commission reviews all complaints and decides
whether or not to investigate. Sometimes it is necessary for the Commission's staff
to call the complainant or other participants for clarification of the complaint.
Complaints may be mailed to any of the Commission's
offices:
