Judge Peter Herbert settles race discrimination claim out of court

Peter Herbert, 64, who sat as a part-time judge in the Crown Court, sued for discrimination, victimisation and harassment after he was disciplined over a speech he delivered at a rally in London in 2015.

His case was to be heard at the Employment Tribunal but the MoJ has since settled out of court. No details have been disclosed nor any admission of liability.

He had spoken at a rally for the former mayor of Tower Hamlets in East London, Lutfur Rahman, in which he criticised Richard Mawrey QC, the deputy High Court judge who disqualified Mr Rahman from running for public office after he was found guilty of electoral fraud.

Mr Herbert had implied the judge’s decision had been founded on a belief that ethnic minorities were not British, according to the disciplinary hearing.

The Judicial Conduct Investigation Office found that Mr Herbert had told the rally that ethnic minorities should “should not place their faith in a justice system that had not been designed for them” and that they should “take direct action”.

But the panel also criticised the handling of the disciplinary process and said “the complaint was not sufficiently serious to warrant suspension”.

The judge said he had settled as he was given an apology by the JCIO.

“Racism is part of the DNA of every institution in British society; the judiciary are sadly no exception,” he said.