Peter Herbert (lawyer)

Peter Herbert (OBE)[1] is a British barrister and political activist. He is an independent member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, a "part-time recorder in the crown court as well as a part-time immigration and employment tribunal judge and chair of the Society of Black Lawyers".[1] He has campaigned against racism in football.[2]

Controversy

Herbert, described by The Independent as "one of Britain's only non-white judges",[3] was at the centre of a controversy over the years 2015–2017 after suggesting that racism was present in the British judicial system.[1][3] In a speech at a Defend Demonracy event in Stepney, Tower Hamlets (east London), in April 2015, Herbert said: "Racism is alive and well and living in Tower Hamlets, in Westminster and, yes, sometimes in the judiciary."[1] He also criticised the "decision to bar the former mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, from holding public office for five years".[1] A complaint was made about his speech to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO).[4] On 15 November 2015 members of the judiciary tried to pressure Herbert into refraining from sitting as a judge.[1] In 2016, Herbert sued the Ministry of Justice for recommending that a formal warning be made against him.[4]

In January 2017, the disciplinary panel investigating Herbert said he should be given an apology from "a suitable senior person" for the treatment he received from other members of the judiciary, and that he should also receive a dressing down for his comments in the speech, which were deem to be misconduct ("because of the inferred criticism that another judge had given a judgment [about Rahman] on racial grounds") and "likely to undermine public confidence in the judiciary".[1] Herbert appealed to the JCIO against the decision, saying that the panel had racially discriminated against him and that their treatment of him had made him feel "like a nigger".[1] In his defence and as an example of double standards in the judiciary's treatment of fellow judges, Herbert pointed to Supreme Court Judge Lord Neuberger's apparent criticism of his colleague Lady Justice Hale's comments "relating to the court case on whether Parliament must be given a say on Brexit" – a criticism for which Lord Neuberger was not disciplined.[3]

References
  1. Diane Taylor, '"Black judge claims he was discriminated against by disciplinary panel", The Guardian, 8 January 2017.
  2. J. Dillion, "Peter Herbert insists police have part to play as he pursues a'zero tolerance", Daily Express, 31 October 2012.
  3. Benjamin Kentish, "UK justice system is racist, suggests one of Britain's only non-white judges", The Independent, 10 January 2017.
  4. Diane Taylor, "Judge sues Ministry of Justice for race discrimination", The Guardian, 14 March 2016.
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