Legal English

Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:08:51 GMT

Wrong. They do not like to use my Lord or My Lady in Canada.

http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/address3_e.cfm

Re: How to address a Judge?

Feebs11 — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:51:47 GMT

Depends on which court you are being tried in.

Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:23 GMT

Hi,

In the English Court system, it is: 'Your Honour' or 'My Lord'

Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:08:15 GMT

High Court/court of appeal/house of lords - my lord / my lady (your lordship for you)

crown court - your honour

circuit judges - sir or madam

magistrates - your worship or sir/madam

tribunal chairman - sir or madam

master of the high court - master

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:13:52 GMT

Hi,
are you Argentinean?
Yo vivo en Virginia y me gusta tu frase.
Cris

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

Feebs11 — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:41:14 GMT

Address the judge directly as: "My Lord" or "My Lady" or indirectly as "Your Lordship" or "Your Ladyship".

When referring to real judges by name make sure you get their names correct. Smith J. in speech is: "Mr Justice Smith" or, if a woman, "Mrs Justice Smith". In speech "Smith J." or "Justice Smith" is wrong.

If you know the name of the judge to whom you are writing, then you would address it to "Mr Justice ***" and the greeting on the letter would be "My Lord"

This link is very comprehensive on the matter:
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about_judiciary/forms_of_address/index.htm

Good luck!

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

RÃkharÃ°ur — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:19:17 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

It will depend on which country you're in. Sounds like you're in a local court; most likely dealing with a magistrate. District Court is for things like murder or GTA. "Your Honour" is the safest bet. "My Lord" is only appropriate in higher English courts; "Your Worship" is outmoded everywhere but South Africa. If you are a lawyer, then "sir" is unlikely to be acceptable when addressing any judge outside of the UK. Isn't common law fun?

The translation was to be sent to the UK (from a local court in Portugal), so would "sir" sound terribly wrong? The thing is I already sent the translation, but all things considered I perhaps should have put "Your Honour"...

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:46:00 GMT

It will depend on which country you're in. Sounds like you're in a local court; most likely dealing with a magistrate. District Court is for things like murder or GTA. "Your Honour" is the safest bet. "My Lord" is only appropriate in higher English courts; "Your Worship" is outmoded everywhere but South Africa. If you are a lawyer, then "sir" is unlikely to be acceptable when addressing any judge outside of the UK. Isn't common law fun?

Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:44:12 GMT

From my experience, if you are in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, etc. the proper way to refer to a "judge" in court is "my Lord" or "my Lady" depending on the gender of the judge in question. In the US, lawyers use "your Honor" (US spelling of course).

When recording judgments and writing about judges and there judgments, etc. the judge is referred to based on the local procedures and practice, for example, (US) Justice of the Supreme Court, Federal Court Judge, (UK) the Honourable Lord Whatchamcallit, etc..

Cheers!

Re: How to address a Judge?

RÃkharÃ°ur — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:04:07 GMT

Thanks for all your suggestions

Re: How to address a Judge?

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 11:04:08 GMT

Formally, it may depend on the court, but you may also consider using "your honour".

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

julielai — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 06:36:10 GMT

Yes, I seem to remember Rumpole calling the judge "my lord".

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

RÃkharÃ°ur — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:23:44 GMT

Clive wrote:

Hi again,

It seems to differ depending on whether you are addressing the judge in person or in writing.

Clive

Yes, that's right. Thanks for the tips and for the link I guess I'll use "sir" and "madam" then.

Re: Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

Clive — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:20:27 GMT

Hi again,

It seems to differ depending on whether you are addressing the judge in person or in writing.

Clive

Resposta: Re: How to address a Judge?

RÃkharÃ°ur — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:48:02 GMT

Clive wrote:

Hi,

As a layman, I'm not sure what is the proper term, but 'Sir Judge' is definitely wrong.

Perhaps 'Your worship' or 'My Lord'. I believe it depends on the type of judge and the type of court. eg is it a mere Justice of the Peace, or a High Court Judge?

Best wishes, Clive

PS - You got me interested, so I looked on the net, and found this site. Have a look for all the details.

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about_judiciary/forms_of_address/index.

Thanks for replying

It's a fairly normal judicial court dealing with common crimes which led me to think the judge rank corresponds to a district judge (not very high), hence my inclination to think it's "sir" or "madam". I saw that stated on Wikipedia by the end of this page under "Titles": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge. That's also indicated in the link you provided, but is it that wrong to use those terms?