The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) received a complaint in February that Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen had failed to hand down five judgments with delays ranging from eight to thirteen months.

Mrs Justice Ellenbogen accepted the importance of delivering judgments promptly and apologised for the delays. She cited, however, having underestimated the time required to complete judgments and workload issues leading to a cumulative backlog alongside the complexity of the cases as reasons for the delay.

Following an investigation under the Judicial Conduct Rules 2023 a nominated judge found that the delays amounted to misconduct and recommended that Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen receive a sanction of reprimand.

The nominated judge considered that three judgments remained outstanding and found that “that none of the cases were out of the ordinary for a KBD judge either in terms of length or complexity”. The judge also took into account “the harm that the delays caused to the parties involved, the reputation of the judiciary, and public confidence in the administration of justice” alongside Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen’s history of significant delays in earlier cases.

A statement from the JCIO said: “”The Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice noted that, at the time of their decision in October 2026, three judgments remained outstanding. After careful consideration, the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice concluded that this was serious misconduct and agreed with the recommendation of the nominated judge that a reprimand was the appropriate and proportionate sanction.”