Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 1
A judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary
Text — As amended by the Supreme Court of California effective July 1, 2020 (the edition the Judicial Council posts, read October 22, 2026)
An independent, impartial,* and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining, and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity* and independence* of the judiciary is preserved. The provisions of this code are to be construed and applied to further that objective. A judicial decision or administrative act later determined to be incorrect legally is not itself a violation of this code.
Notes and commentary — not the Code's text
ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTARY: Canon 1
Deference to the judgments and rulings of courts depends upon public confidence in the integrity* and independence* of judges. The integrity* and independence* of judges depend in turn upon their acting without fear or favor. Although judges should be independent, they must comply with the law* and the provisions of this code. Public confidence in the impartiality* of the judiciary is maintained by the adherence of each judge to this responsibility. Conversely, violations of this code diminish public confidence in the judiciary and thereby do injury to the system of government under law.
The basic function of an independent, impartial,* and honorable judiciary is to maintain the utmost integrity* in decisionmaking, and this code should be read and interpreted with that function in mind.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As amended by the Supreme Court of California effective July 1, 2020 (the edition the Judicial Council posts, read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/rules-court/ca_code_judicial_ethics.pdf (PDF pages 8)
- Text hash
- sha256 d5d00518280fe6ee78ecaf972f908382548e7538596933e7a0ba442fc2e32386
- Composed by
- cje/build 2026-10-22: the Code's PDF (55 pages, line-numbered) read by two readers, PyMuPDF and pdfminer's layout analysis, agreeing on all 417 paragraphs character for character; 114,918 printed glyphs accounted for (110,958 composed, 3,960 margin line numbers and page numbers dropped)
Cited by 6 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 1. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
California Code of Judicial Ethics
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, TerminologyPrinted as Canons 1
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 2A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge’s activitiesPrinted as Canon 1
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 3A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligentlyPrinted as Canon 1
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 4A judge shall so conduct the judge’s quasi-judicial and extrajudicial activities as to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial obligationsPrinted as Canon 1
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 5A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciaryPrinted as Canons 1
- Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 6Compliance with the Code of Judicial EthicsPrinted as Canons 1
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.