Washington, US

The US Supreme Court issued an ethics code on Monday (Nov 13) for its nine justices, after revelations about undisclosed property, luxury trips and gifts sparked a row and mounted pressure on the court.

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The justices, in a statement, said that they had established the code of conduct “to set out succinctly and gather in one place the ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the members of the court.” 

“For the most part these rules and principles are not new,” the court said, further adding that “the absence of a code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”

The nine-page code includes sections that say justices should not let any outside relationships affect their official conduct or judgment, expounding restrictions on their participation in fundraising and reiterating limits on the accepting of gifts. It also states that justices should not "to any substantial degree" use judicial resources or staff for non-official activities.

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A commentary released with the code elaborating on some of its provisions said that justices who are weighing a speaking engagement should "consider whether doing so would create an appearance of impropriety in the minds of reasonable members of the public."

Senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee, called the code a "step in the right direction." But Durbin held open the possibility of further legislative efforts if he determines the code falls short of "the ethical standards which other federal judges are held to."

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"We are going to carefully review this proposed code of conduct to evaluate whether it complies with our goal that the highest court in the land not languish with the lowest standard of ethics in our federal government," Durbin said.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, called the code "an important first step."

"However, the lack of any way to enforce the code of conduct should any justice decide to ignore it is a glaring omission," Schumer said.

(With inputs from agencies)