Sec. 416. Confidentiality and referrals
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All information discussed or disclosed in the course of any mediation shall be strictly confidential, and the Judicial Integrity Officer shall notify each person participating in the mediation of the confidentiality requirement and of the sanctions applicable to any person who violates the confidentiality requirement. Except as provided in subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), all proceedings and deliberations of Preliminary Hearing Officers, Merit Hearing Officers, and the Board, including any related records, shall be confidential.
The Judicial Integrity Officer shall notify each person participating in a proceeding or deliberation to which this subsection applies of the requirements of this subsection and of the sanctions applicable to any person who violates the requirements of this subsection. The records of Preliminary Hearing Officers, Merits Hearing Officers, and the Board may be made public if required for the purpose of judicial review under section 407. Upon the final disposition under this title (as described in paragraph (5)) of a claim alleging a violation described in section 415(d)(1)(C) committed personally by a judge, the Judicial Integrity Officer shall refer the claim to the judicial council of the relevant circuit.
Dispositions referred under this subsection shall be treated by judicial councils as complaints under chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, except that these complaints shall bypass review by the chief judge and be certified directly to a special committee appointed by the chief judge under section 353 of that title. No judge may participate in the special committee or the judicial council’s action on a referral under this paragraph concerning that judge’s own conduct, and the chief judge may, in the interest of justice, refer resolution of a referral under this subsection to another circuit’s judicial council.
For referrals under this subsection regarding conduct by the chief judge, the circuit judge in regular active service next senior in date of commission shall act as chief judge for purposes of this subsection. If the Judicial Integrity Officer refers a claim to a judicial council under this subsection, the Judicial Integrity Officer shall provide the council with access to the records of any preliminary reviews, hearings, or decisions of Preliminary Hearing Officers, Merits Hearing Officers, and the Board under this Act, and any information relating to an award or settlement paid, in response to such a claim.
After the receipt of a settlement agreement for a claim that includes an allegation of a violation described in section 415(d)(1)(C) committed personally by a judge, the judicial council receiving the referral shall, as part of the procedure set out in paragraph (1), determine whether the settlement involved an actual violation described in section 415(d)(1)(C) committed personally by the judge. If the judicial council so determines, it shall notify the Judicial Integrity Officer to request the reimbursement described in section 415(d) and include the settlement in the report required by section 211(a).
If the judicial council to which a claim is referred under paragraph (1), or the Judicial Conference upon subsequent referral, issues a public order or report with respect to the claim, the judicial council or Judicial Conference shall ensure that the order or report does not directly disclose the identity or position of the individual who filed the claim. In this subsection, the final disposition of a claim means any of the following; An order or agreement to pay an award or settlement, including an agreement reached pursuant to mediation under section 404.
A final decision of a Merits Hearing Officer under section 405(g) that is no longer subject to review by the Board under section 406. A final decision of the Board under section 406(e) that is no longer subject to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit under section 407. A final decision in a civil action under section 408 that is no longer subject to appeal. Section 363 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to a referral involving the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of International Trade, and the United States United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The Judicial Integrity Officer shall provide judicial councils, the Judicial Conference of the United States, and Congress access to the records of the hearings and decisions of Preliminary Hearing Officers, Merits Hearing Officers, and the Board, including all written and oral testimony in the possession of the Office, when such material is requested as part of the review of a complaint under chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, or in the exercise of the power of impeachment by Congress under the Constitution of the United States.
The Judicial Integrity Officer shall not provide such access until the Judicial Integrity Officer has consulted with the individual filing the claim at issue, and until a final disposition has been reached as defined in subsection (d)(5). Section 363 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to claims described in paragraph
(1)involving judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of International Trade, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A final decision entered under section 405(g) or 406(e) shall be made public if it is in favor of the complaining covered employee or if the decision reverses a decision of a Merits Hearing Officer which had been in favor of the covered employee. The Board may make public any other decision at its discretion. Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a covered employee from disclosing the factual allegations underlying the covered employee’s claim, or to prohibit an employing unit from disclosing the factual allegations underlying the employing unit’s defense to the claim.