Judicial Commissioner

A judicial commissioner is person appointed on a non-permanent basis to a judicial office. In some countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, judicial commissioners have the powers of full judges. In other jurisdictions their powers are limited.

Brunei Darussalam
A number of serving and retired Hong Kong High Court Judges are appointed by the Sultan to sit as Supreme Court Judges and Judicial Commissioners in Brunei. For example, while Mr Justice Rogers served as Vice President of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, he also sat as a non-resident Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam between 2010 and 2011. As of 2017, three retired Hong Kong High Court Judges sit as Judges of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam (Mr Justice Mortimer, who is the President of the Brunei Court of Appeal, and Mr Justice Burrell and Mr Justice Seagroatt, who are Justices of Appeal); two retired Hong Kong High Court Judges sit as Judicial Commissioners of the High Court of Brunei Darussalam (Mr Justice Findlay and Mr Justice Lugar-Mawson).

Hong Kong
In 1983, the position of Commissioner of the High Court was re-named as Deputy Judge of the High Court.

Malaysia
In Malaysia judicial commissioners are appointed for a term of two years.

Singapore
In Singapore judicial commissioners are appointed to the Supreme Court by the President of Singapore on the advice of the prime minister, and have the powers of a judge. A person may be appointed a judicial commissioner if he/she has been a "qualified person" within the meaning of section 2 of the Legal Profession Act and/or a member of the Singapore Legal Service for at least ten years. The appointment is for a specific period which is determined by the president. Many judicial commissioners go on to become judges of the supreme court, such as Andrew Phang Boon Leong, Belinda Ang Saw Ean, Tan Lee Meng and V K Rajah.

California
Superior court commissioners are subordinate judicial officers who are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the superior court judges.

Tennessee
In Tennessee, judicial commissioners may be appointed at a county level to handle minor criminal matters.