Maas

—Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 affords litigants the right to peremptorily challenge a superior court judge based on a good faith belief that the judge is prejudiced. When a motion under section 170.6 is in proper form and timely filed, the judge is not permitted to try the assigned civil or criminal action or special proceeding, or to hear “any matter therein that involves a contested issue of law or fact.” (§ 170.6, subd. (a)(1).) We granted review to decide whether the statute contemplates that a party may challenge the judge assigned to assess and rule on a petition for writ of habeas corpus, at the initial stage of the habeas corpus process, before an order to show cause with respect to the petition’s claims has been issued.

We conclude that, like a superior court judge’s resolution of a petitioner’s claims after issuance of an order to show cause, the initial assessment of a petition for writ of habeas corpus to determine whether the petitioner has stated a prima facie case for relief requires the judge to hear “a contested issue of law or fact” in a special proceeding, within the meaning of section 170.6. Accordingly, we hold that a petitioner who requests…