(1) A judge must—
| (a) | perform all assigned judicial duties diligently; |
| (b) | investigate the matter at hand thoroughly; |
| (c) | dispose of the business of the court promptly and in an efficient and businesslike manner; |
| (d) | give judgment or any ruling in a case promptly and without undue delay; |
| (e) | not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of justice or the business of the court; |
| (f) | attend chambers during normal office hours and attend court during normal court hours, unless such attendance is not reasonably required in order to perform any official duties; |
| (g) | perform all official duties properly, timeously, and in an orderly manner; |
| (h) | respect and comply with, the administrative requests of the head of court or the relevant senior judge; |
| (i) | take reasonable steps to maintain the necessary level of professional competence in the law; and |
| (j) | upon resignation, discharge from active service, or the expiry of an acting appointment, complete all part-heard cases and deliver all reserved judgments as soon as possible. |
| (2) | A judge must deliver all reserved judgments before the end of the term in which the hearing of a matter was completed, but may— |
| (a) | in respect of a matter that was heard within two weeks of the end of that term; or |
| (b) | where a reserved judgment is of a complex nature or for any other cogent and sound reason and with the consent of the head of the court, |
deliver that reserved judgment during the course of the next term.
Notes:
| Note 10(i): | Unnecessary postponements, point-taking, undue formality and the like must be avoided. |
| Note 10(ii): | Litigants are entitled to judgment as soon as reasonably possible. |
| Note 10(iii): | Criminal proceedings, especially automatic reviews, applications for leave to appeal, and matters where personal liberty is involved, must be dealt with expeditiously. |
| Note 10(iv): | A judge keeps a record of all outstanding judgments and reports to the head of the particular court thereon if and when requested. |
| Note 10(v): | A pattern of intemperate or intimidating treatment of lawyers and others, or of conduct evidencing arbitrariness and abusiveness is prejudicial to the effective administration of justice and should be avoided. |
