Judicial Performance Review

The Judicial Performance Program was established in September 1993 to promote judicial competence and excellence among Hawai`i state judges. The goals of the program are to:

• Improve each individual judge’s performance.
• Increase the efficiency of judicial management within the Judiciary.
• Provide the Judicial Selection Commission with a potential source of information for retention and promotion decisions.
• Improve the design and content of judicial education programs.
• Promote public trust and confidence in the courts.

How it Works

The Supreme Court Rule 19 Committee on Judicial Performance, the Hawai`i State Judiciary, and the Hawaii State Bar Association have worked closely to develop a process that evaluates and provides feedback to judges. All full-time and a limited number of per diem judges are evaluated by attorneys who have appeared before the judge on substantive matters. The attorneys are asked to respond confidentially to a series of questions applying scores that range from one for Poor to five for Excellent and to provide any helpful written comments. Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald and the Judicial Evaluation Review Panel discuss the results with the individual judges.

Although judges’ individual evaluation results are confidential, the Chief Justice does make summary evaluation results public. Copies of the reports are available at the law libraries in each circuit.

Additional Information

Frequently Asked Questions about Judicial Evaluations