Whether the Lavaux-Oron Justice of Peace office should recuse itself due to apparent bias arising from private contacts with a party.
Yes. The private, extra-procedural contacts created an objective appearance of bias and justified recusal of the office as a whole.
Under Art. 47(1)(f) CPC and the constitutional guarantee of an impartial judge, recusal requires serious reasons. Here, the magistrates had private acquaintance with the applicant, had also met the other parent, and had learned details of the dispute outside the proceedings, creating an appearance of prevention in the eyes of parties and third persons.