Angelina Jolie has clinched a victory in her legal battle with Brad Pitt after a judge they hired was disqualified from their divorce case.

The actors have been locked in court fight for custody of their children pgslot since Jolie filed for divorce in 2016.

A private judge, John Ouderkirk, made a ruling that granted Pitt joint custody in May this year.

But on Friday, a California court agreed with Jolie's appeal to remove the judge from the case.

In its ruling, the appeals court said Judge Ouderkirk did not disclose his business relationships with Pitt's lawyers.

This was an "ethical breach" that may cast doubt on "the judge's ability to be impartial", the court said.

The ruling means the legal battle over the couple's five minor children may have to be restarted before a new judge.

Private judges are often hired in the US to mediate disputes between divorcing celebrities for privacy reasons.

A spokesperson for Pitt said the ruling was based on a technical issue.

The "factual evidence" that led Judge Ouderkirk to make his custody ruling in May had not changed, the spokesperson said.

Jolie's representatives are yet to comment on Friday's ruling. But following May's custody ruling, a source told AFP news agency that Jolie believed that she and the children had been "denied a fair trial".