On July 15, 2010, the Hawaii Supreme Court entered its Order Adopting Comment 5 to Rule 2.2 of the Hawaii Revised Code of Judicial Conduct. Rule 2.2 provides as follows:
Rule 2.2 IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS
A judge shall uphold and apply the law* and shall perform all duties of judicial office fairly and impartially.*
COMMENT:
[1] To ensure impartiality and fairness to all parties, a judge must be objective and open-minded.
[2] Although each judge comes to the bench with a unique background and personal philosophy, a judge must interpret and apply the law without regard to whether the judge approves or disapproves of the law in question.
[3] When applying and interpreting the law, a judge sometimes may make good-faith errors of fact or law. Errors of this kind do not violate this Rule.
[4] It is not a violation of this Rule for a judge to make reasonable accommodations to ensure pro se litigants the opportunity to have their matters fairly heard.
[5] It is not a violation of this Rule for a judge to sanction a lawyer by permitting the lawyer to provide pro bono legal services to persons or organizations of the lawyer’s choosing that are described in Rule 6.1(a) of the Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct, or to make a monetary contribution to such organizations.