Introductory Reporter's Note
The Vermont Code of Judicial Conduct 2019 (hereinafter Vermont Code 2019) replaces and significantly changes the Vermont Code of Judicial Conduct promulgated by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1994 as Administrative Order No. 10 and subsequently amended (hereinafter Vermont Code 1994). Vermont Code 1994 generally incorporated the American Bar Association's 1990 Model Code of Judicial Conduct (hereinafter ABA Code 1990), with variations necessary or appropriate for Vermont. Vermont Code 1994 did not include the "Commentary" that was incorporated for interpretive guidance following each section of ABA Code 1990. The ABA Commentary, however, was described in the introductory Reporter's Notes to Vermont Code 1994 as one of several "authoritative sources of interpretation for the Vermont Code."
In 2007, the ABA adopted a substantial revision of the Model Code, making major changes in both format and substance that reflected experience since 1990, changes in court structure and process, and increased numbers of self-represented litigants. As of June 2018, 37 states had revised their Codes of Judicial Conduct to incorporate some or all of the 2007 ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct (hereinafter ABA Code 2007), and nine others, including Vermont, were considering adoption. See https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/resour ces/judicial_ethics_regulation/map.html.
The Vermont Judicial Conduct Board in October 2015 recommended that the Supreme Court adopt ABA Code 2007 and presented a draft of a Vermont Code to the Court. The Court referred the draft to its Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure for review and comment. Vermont Code 2019 is based on the Board's draft with a few changes made by the Advisory Committee and with Reporter's Notes prepared by Professor L. Kinvin Wroth, Reporter to that Committee. The present draft has been reviewed by the Board and is recommended for promulgation by both the Board and the Advisory Committee.
Vermont Code 2019 adopts the format and substantive provisions of ABA Code 2007, with necessary or appropriate Vermont variations. The purpose is to assure that Vermont judges will continue to be governed by principles of conduct that are substantially uniform with those applicable in other jurisdictions. While much of the substance of the former Code remains in effect, the revisions also clarify and expand many provisions in light of problems in application or changing conditions.
Vermont Code 2019, like ABA Code 2007, follows the general format of the Vermont and ABA Rules of Professional Conduct. The five Canons of the former Vermont and ABA Codes of Judicial Conduct, which state broad principles of conduct, have been consolidated in four Canons in a more functional arrangement. Under each Canon are enforceable, numbered, black-letter Rules of Conduct. Each Rule is followed by one or more numbered Comments that are not themselves binding but are intended to both provide interpretive guidance and set aspirational goals for the application of the black-letter Rules. The Reporter's Notes provide further interpretive assistance and highlight Vermont variations from ABA Code 2007.
The Reporter's Notes contain references to the ABA "Reporter's Explanation of Changes," Appendix B, ABA Center for Professional Responsibility, 2007 Edition, Model Code of Judicial Conduct 75-161 (2007), hereinafter cited as ABA Reporter's Explanation. This document is not part of the Code but was before the House of Delegates during its review of the Code. For more detailed comment, see two other publications of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility: C. Geyh and W. Hodes, Reporter's Notes to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct (2009); A. Garwin et al., Annotated Model Code of Judicial Conduct (3d. ed. 2016). The decisions and advisory opinions of other jurisdictions that have adopted ABA Code 2007 are also sources for interpretation of Vermont Code 2019.