code: def _load_json_file(json_file):
          
          with io.open(json_file, encoding='utf-8') as data_file:
              try:
                  json_content = json.load(data_file)
              except p_exception.JSONDecodeError:
                  err_msg = u"JSONDecodeError: JSON file format error: {}".format(json_file)
                  raise p_exception.FileFormatError(err_msg)
  
              FileUtils._check_format(json_file, json_content)
              return json_content
docs: load json file and check file content format