FormerBBCjournalist and British Journalism Award nominee Barnie Choudhury has been hit with charges of £14,270.70 by the appointments body for judges following a dispute over FoI requests.
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), an independent body responsible for selecting candidates for judicial office in England and Wales, said Choudhury “acted unreasonably” in pursuing enforcement action after it failed to comply with a tribunal order to disclose information requested in an FOI.
Since 2020, Choudhury has written 23 investigative articles for Eastern Eye in his campaign against judicial secrecy, alleging bullying, misogyny and misconduct in the judicial appointments process.
After threatening the JAC withContempt of Court, Choudhury’s reporting successfully led to the JAC disclosing confidential recruitment materials and exposed the body for its unlawful use of FoI exemptions.
His long-running campaign against the JAC led to stories on topics includingcalls for a senior official for JAC, accused of misleading a court, to be questioned againandclaims of bullying within the judiciary.
Choudhury was shortlisted for thePublic Service Journalism award at the British Journalism Awards in 2025for his work.
He withdrew his Contempt of Court Action against the JAC in September 2025 once he had enough information to continue reporting, “even though the JAC had not fully complied with the decision notice”, he said.
In October, the JAC filed a costs application against Choudhury, arguing he “acted unreasonably in making and pursuing the application”. He is due to appear before a London tribunal on 29 April.
Choudhury told Press Gazette the case has taken a personal toll, adding he is no longer writing because “it’s had such a bad mental effect” on him. His last article for Eastern Eye was published on 26 March 2026.
“They decided that they would apply for costs against me because they said I was being unreasonable, and they have no proof of that… what it is is a threat against journalists, and if they win, it’ll be a chilling effect, because it’ll stop [journalists] taking on the judiciary and holding power to account,” Choudhury said.
Source: Press Gazette
