Guideline for Tenet One

IMPARTIALITY

All persons coming to the court for assistance are entitled to fair and equitable treatment, regardless of their personal behavior or legal situation. Court employees must remember that they are often dealing with people who may be having one of the worst experiences of their lives. They must offer to angry, confused, uneducated, and sometimes deceitful customers the same level of competent and policy-neutral help that they provide to those who are pleasant and appreciative. While every court employee has the right to freedom of association and political expression, he or she does not have the right to take sides in a legal dispute, interject himself or herself into the legal decision-making process, second-guess a judge's ruling, or give the appearance of partiality on a political issue that is likely to come before the court. The procedural integrity of the court must be protected at all times.