California’s Judicial Council is reviewing the use of confidentiality pacts in judicial misconduct settlements after a recent release of documents revealed language designed to keep allegations of wrongdoing secret.

Judicial branch lawyers are in the “early stages” of considering whether the confidentiality clauses should be eliminated from future settlements, council spokesman Peter Allen said Friday in response to questions from The Recorder. It’s unclear whether the full Judicial Council would need to approve such a policy change and whether it would apply to courts that draft their own settlements without council lawyers’ assistance.