Preamble

This Code shall constitute the “Canons of Judicial Ethics” referenced in the Delaware Constitution, Article IV, Section 37.

This Code is designed to provide guidance to judges and nominees for judicial office. The Code will also establish standards of conduct for application in proceedings pursuant to Article IV, Section 37 of the Delaware Constitution, which provides, in pertinent part:

“A judicial officer may be censured or removed by virtue of this section for wilful misconduct in office, wilful and persistent failure to perform his or her duties, the commission after appointment of an offense involving moral turpitude, or other persistent misconduct in violation of the Canons of Judicial Ethics as adopted by the Delaware Supreme Court from time to time.” It is not intended that disciplinary action would be appropriate for every violation of the Code’s provisions. Whether disciplinary action is appropriate, and the degree of discipline to be imposed, should be determined through a reasonable application of the text and should depend on such factors as the seriousness of the violation, the intent of the judge, whether there is a pattern of improper activity, and the effect of the improper activity on others or on the judicial system.

Any person subject to this Code may request an advisory opinion on proper judicial conduct with respect to this Code. A judge who has requested and relied upon such an opinion shall be entitled to introduce that opinion in any proceeding in the Court on the Judiciary as evidence that conduct conforming to the opinion is prima facie permissible. See Delaware Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Rules 4(a) and 5(c) and Court on the Judiciary Rule 13(c).

Many of the proscriptions in the Code are necessarily cast in general terms, and it is not suggested that disciplinary action is appropriate where reasonable judges might be uncertain as to whether or not the conduct is proscribed. Furthermore, the Code is not designed or intended as a basis for civil liability or criminal prosecution. Finally, the purpose of the Code would be subverted if the Code were invoked by lawyers for mere tactical advantage in a proceeding.

The Canons are rules of reason. They should be applied in a manner consistent with constitutional requirements, statutes, other court rules and decisional law and in the context of all relevant circumstances. The Code is to be construed so as not to impinge on the essential independence of judges in making judicial decisions.

This Code has been reformatted and its provisions renumbered to conform to the format and numbering of the American Bar Association 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct. Its text is based on Delaware’s 1974 adaptation of the ABA’s 1972 Model Code of Judicial Conduct, revised in 1993, following the promulgation of the ABA’s 1990 Model Code of Judicial Conduct. The current text is revised only slightly from the Delaware Code of Judicial Conduct adopted in 1993.