Guam § 5105 - Procedure for Considering Removal.

§ 5105. Procedure for Considering Removal.

(a) Any charges against any Justice or Judge must be in writing, signed by the person making the

charge under oath, except that any charge initiated by the subcommittee must be signed by at least two (2)

members of the subcommittee. The subcommittee shall notify in writing every Justice or Judge against

whom a charge is received and afford the Justice or Judge an opportunity to explain the charge. The

subcommittee shall investigate all charges on a confidential basis, having available all the powers herein

provided, and the proceedings shall not be public. If a majority of the members of the subcommittee

determine that there is probable cause for belief that a Justice or Judge appears to be so incapacitated as

substantially to prevent the Justice or Judge from performing judicial duties or has acted in a manner that

constitutes willful misconduct in office, willful and persistent failure to perform judicial duties, habitual

intemperance, or conduct so prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into

disrepute, the subcommittee shall certify its findings to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or to the

most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court if the Chief Justice is the subject of the charges, within

thirty (30) days after such determination.

(b) Any Council member or individual, including the individual making the charge, who divulges

information concerning the charge prior to the certification of the charge by the subcommittee to the Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court, or if the investigation discloses that the certification should not be issued by

the subcommittee, any Council member or individual who divulges at any time any information concerning

the original charge or divulges the contents or discloses any matter except as permitted by this Title, shall

be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) In the event that the subcommittee determines that a Judge or Justice should be removed from

office, the Attorney General shall present the case to the Supreme Court pursuant to the provisions of §

5107, infra.

2025 NOTE: Procedural and local rules of court, including the current version of the Guam Rules for Judicial

Disciplinary Enforcement, may be accessed on the Compiler of Laws website at

https://www.guamcourts.org/CompilerofLaws/index.html under the “Court Rules” tab.

2014 NOTE: Judicial discipline is now governed by the Guam Rules of Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement. See Chapter

5, 2014 Note.

COL 2025-08-27

1985 SOURCE: CCP § 124, modified.

1985 COMMENT: Basically follows prior law, but specifies that the Attorney General act as prosecutor. This function

would be similar to the Attorney General’s role before a Grand Jury, except that the Commission, working with him,

makes the actual decision to bring or continue charges. The Attorney General could also prefer charges to the

Commission. There would be no conflict, since it is he who determines what to bring before Grand Juries, and then

prosecutes. This is a better method than that used by the Bar Ethics Committee, since the Attorney General has the

personnel and mechanisms for investigations and prosecutions already in place.