United States: The Supreme Court of the United States has unveiled its first formal code of ethics governing the conduct of its nine justices. The move comes after months of external pressure stemming from revelations about justices receiving undisclosed luxury gifts from benefactors.
The nine members of the nation’s highest court are the only federal judges not explicitly subject to ethical oversight. Democrats in the Senate have been increasingly urging them to embrace a code of conduct.
The nine-page code contains sections codifying that justices should not let outside relationships influence their official conduct or judgement, spelling out restrictions on their participation in fundraising and reiterating limits on the accepting of gifts. It further states that justices should not “to any substantial degree” use judicial resources or staff for non-official activities.
A commentary released with the code elaborated that justices who are weighing a speaking engagement should “consider whether doing so would create an appearance of impropriety in the minds of reasonable members of the public.”
The justices stated that they have long adhered to ethical standards and suggested that criticism of the court over ethics was the product of misunderstanding.
“To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct,” the justices wrote in a statement.
“This is a long-overdue step by the justices, but a code of ethics is not binding unless there is a mechanism to investigate possible violations and enforce the rules. The honour system has not worked for members of the Roberts Court,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse commented. Senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee, called the code a “step in the right direction.”
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