Rule 3.13 Acceptance and Reporting of Gifts, Loans, Bequests, Benefits, or Other Things of Value

(a) A judge shall not accept any gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value, if acceptance is prohibited by law* or would appear to a reasonable person to materially impair the judge’s independence,* integrity,* impartiality,* temperament, or fitness to fulfill the duties of judicial office.

Code Comparison

The Hawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct modifies ABA Model Code Rule 3.13 by (1) substituting “materially impair” for “undermine” and (2) adding “temperament, or fitness to fulfill the duties of judicial office.”

(b) Unless otherwise prohibited by law* or by Rule 3.13(a), a judge may accept the following without publicly reporting such acceptance:

(1) items with little intrinsic value, such as plaques, certificates, trophies, and greeting cards;

(2) gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value from friends, relatives, or other persons, including lawyers, whose appearance or interest in a proceeding pending* or impending* before the judge would in any event require disqualification or recusal of the judge under Rule 2.11;

(3) ordinary social hospitality;

(4) commercial or financial opportunities and benefits, including special pricing and discounts, and loans from lending institutions in their regular course of business, if the same opportunities and benefits or loans are made available on the same terms to similarly situated persons who are not judges;

(5) rewards and prizes given to competitors or participants in random drawings, contests, or other events that are open to persons who are not judges;

(6) scholarships, fellowships, and similar benefits or awards, if they are available to similarly situated persons who are not judges, based upon the same terms and criteria;

(7) books, magazines, journals, audiovisual materials, and other resource materials supplied by publishers on a complimentary basis for official use;

(8) gifts, awards, or benefits associated with the business, profession, or other separate activity of a spouse, a domestic partner,* or other family member of a judge residing in the judge’s household,* but that incidentally benefit the judge;

(9) gifts incident to a public testimonial; or

(10) invitations to the judge and the judge’s spouse, domestic partner,* or guest to attend without charge:

(A) an event associated with a bar-related function or other activity relating to the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice; or

(B) an event associated with any of the judge’s educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic activities permitted by this Code, if the same invitation is offered to nonjudges who are engaged in similar ways in the activity as is the judge.

Code Comparison

The Hawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct modifies ABA Model Code Rule 3.13(B) by adding paragraphs (9) and (10) from ABA Model Code Rule 3.13(C).

(c) Unless otherwise prohibited by law* or by Rule 3.13(a), a judge may accept the following items and must report such acceptance to the extent required by Rule 3.15:

(1) gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value, if the source is a party or other person, including a lawyer, who has come or is likely to come before the judge, or whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge; and

(2) gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value exceeding $200.00, if the donor is not a party or other person who has come or is likely to come or whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge.

Code Comparison

The Hawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct modifies ABA Model Code Rule 3.13(C) by recategorizing public testimonial gifts and event invitations as nonreportable gifts under Rule 3.13(b) and adding paragraph (2).