Recusal

n. disqualification of judge from a particular trial or legal proceeding due to prejudice or conflict of interest (Law)

Recusal, also referred to as disqualification, refers to the act of abstaining from participation in an official action such as a legal proceeding due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer. Applicable statutes or canons of ethics may provide standards for recusal in a given proceeding or matter. Providing that the judge or presiding offer must be free from disabling conflicts of interest makes the fairness of the proceedings less likely to be questioned.
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Noun
1. (law) the disqualification of a judge or jury by reason of prejudice or conflict of interest; a judge can be recused by objections of either party or judges can disqualify themselves
(synonym) recusation
(hypernym) disqualification
(derivation) recuse
(classification) law, jurisprudence

RECUSAL, RECUSATION - Recusal is the process by which a judge voluntarily removes himself from hearing a particular case because of bias, conflict of interest, relation to a party, attorney or witness, or for any other reason.

A plea or exception by which the defendant requires that the judge having jurisdiction of the cause, should abstain from deciding upon the ground of interest, or for a legal objection to his prejudice.

A recusation is not a plea to the jurisdiction of the court, but simply to the person of the judge. It may, however, extend to all the judges, as when the party has a suit against the whole court. It is a personal challenge of the judge for cause.

It is a maxim of every good system of law, that a man shall not be judge in his own cause.

By recusation is also understood the challenge of jurors. Recusation is also an act, of what nature soever it may be, by which a strange heir, by deeds or words, declares he will not be heir.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.