Disclosure—Allegation of apparent bias against judge—Party seeking disclosure of documents instructing judge when counsel

Queen’s Bench Division, Eady J, 4 May 2010

There is no jurisdiction under CPR 18, CPR 31 or any other basis on which to order disclosure of documents provided to a judge when he was counsel in order to support an allegation of apparent bias against that judge arising out of the fact that he was involved in unrelated litigation at the Bar involving one of the parties.

David Oliver QC and Colin Challenger (instructed by J Tehrani) for the claimant.

Adam Speker (instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP) for the defendant.

The claimant brought an action in libel against the defendant newspaper group in respect of a number of articles accusing him of dishonesty. Various interlocutory matters were heard before Sharp J. The claimant applied for relief in the following terms: “An Order requiring the defendant to disclose to the claimant the number of matters that they instructed Mrs Justice Sharp to advise on and/or represent them