Judge who gave love letter to junior staffer reprimanded

A judge and president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the UK has been reprimanded for giving a love letter to a junior colleague.

Justice Marcus Smith caused the woman to feel “let down and devalued” when he handed her a handwritten letter that referred to both “personal matters and his feelings for the member of staff”.

A senior nominated judge who carried out the investigation said that by writing and giving the letter to the woman, Justice Smith “was clearly expressing his love for her and that he wanted to take things further”.

Although the UK’s Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor of the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office stopped short of removing Justice Smith from office, they did impose a reprimand.

“He had abused his position and crossed lines which should not be crossed,” a statement by the Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor said.

“It was unsurprising that the member of staff has been distressed. The impact on the member of staff was likely to be lasting.”

Before receiving the letter, the woman told the investigations office that Justice Smith shared information about his relationship with judicial leadership and had asked her to go for walks with him.

She said the letter caused her to become very distressed, and she did “not want to work with the judge or cross paths with him”.

Justice Smith accepted the letter was “plainly inappropriate” and caused the woman to feel “significant emotional distress”.

He added he did not intend to pressure or take advantage of her and claimed the letter was a poorly framed attempt to reach out for support and discuss problems he was having with his workload.

“He gave an assurance that there would be no repeat of such behaviour. He would be taking immediate steps to address the underlying issues which he believed has led him to act as he did,” the statement said.

According to Justice Smith’s profile on the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s website, he was appointed chair in 2009 and has regularly heard cases across a full range of work.

In 2017, he was appointed to the UK’s High Court (Chancery Division).