Who must decide a challenge aimed at a court officer or an interpreter, and does this provision fix when that decision has to be made?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the paper by which the challenge was put to the court, the record showing which court the officer, clerk, court translator or interpreter is attached to, and any decision issued on the challenge.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the extension at its word: the exclusion and challenge rules of this chapter apply to court officers, court clerks, court translators and interpreters, save for the limit set by the exclusion ground of item seven, and a challenge against them must be ruled on by decision of the court to which they belong, while the decision the provision cross-refers to is made by the judge to whom the challenged person belongs.
Another reading stresses two gaps: the provision names a decision it cross-refers to without stating what that decision covers, so the file must show which of the two limbs was used, and the provision fixes who rules and in what form but sets no period for the ruling, no event from which a period would run, and no consequence for a ruling that comes late.
Your judgment
If no ruling on a challenge has yet issued, what in the file could show which court was seized of it and when the challenge was put?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to describe the decision it cross-refers to or to set a period for the ruling, or if a court decision explains which decision that cross-reference covers and when the duty to decide arises.