Angelina Jolie wants private judge replaced in divorce case with Brad Pitt

While Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been legally declared single, their divorce hasn't been finalised even almost four years after the actress filed for it citing "irreconcilable differences."

The proceedings have faced another halt as Angelina Jolie wants that the private judge overseeing her divorce case from Brad Pitt to be disqualified from the case. In a filing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, the 45-year-old argued that Judge John W. Ouderkirk should be taken off from the divorce case she filed in 2016 because of his insufficient disclosures of his business relationships with one of Pitt's attorneys, reports Page Six.

The actress, who shares six children with Pitt, said that the judge was too late and not forthcoming enough about working with her ex-husband's attorney Anne C. Kiley on other cases. Her statement read that Ouderkirk has "failed to disclose the cases that demonstrated the current, ongoing, repeat-customer relationship between the judge and Respondent's counsel."

The filing goes on to say that Pitt's attorney "actively advocated for Judge Ouderkirk's financial interests in moving — over the opposing party's opposition — to have his appointment (and his ability to continue to receive fees) extended in a high profile case."

Like many other high-profile celeb couples, Pitt and Jolie had hired a private judge to oversee their divorce proceedings to keep many of its filings and the personal and financial details within them sealed. In such cases, some legal moves are required to be made within standard court procedure and the private judge also must follow the same rules of disclosure and conflict of interest like other judges.

Jolie's filing says that it doesn't matter if Ouderkirk was partial towards her ex-husband, as he still failed to disclose his involvement with the actor's attorney which is required under California law.

"It doesn't matter if Judge Ouderkirk is actually biased. Under California law disqualification is required so long as a person aware of the facts 'might reasonably entertain a doubt' about Judge Ouderkirk's ability to remain impartial," it read.

The filing also mentioned that Jolie's attorneys have requested Ouderkirk to disqualify himself while Pitt's attorneys have insisted on keeping him.

Pitt and Jolie, who were a couple for 12 years and married for two years when Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, were declared divorced in April 2019 in a bifurcated judgement. The judgement meant that while the couple can call themselves single, other issues including finances and child custody will continue to remain in the court.