Reprimands occur to judges (7)
I believe the answer is:
berates
'reprimands' is the definition.
('berate' can be a synonym of 'reprimand')
'occur to judges' is the wordplay.
'occur' becomes 'be' (synonyms).
'to judges' becomes 'rates' (rating is a kind of judging).
'be'+'rates'='BERATES'
(Other definitions for berates that I've seen before include "Scolds" , "Upbraids" , "is a scold" .)