Can a party in a civil case bring a peremptory challenge to the assigned judge?

Section 170.6 allows a party in a civil or criminal case to move to disqualify the assigned judge on affirmation that the judge is prejudiced against the party. (Peracchi v. Superior Court (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1245, 1252 (Peracchi).) Although such a peremptory challenge generally must be brought early in the proceedings, the statute was amended in 1985 to allow a disqualification motion to be brought "following reversal on appeal of a trial court's decision, or following reversal on appeal of a trial court's final judgment, if the trial judge in the prior proceeding is assigned to conduct a new trial on the matter."

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