Queensland chief justice appointment described as throwback to corrupt era

Civil libertarians are describing the appointment of Queensland's next chief justice as a throwback to the corrupt era of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
 

Tim Carmody's promotion from chief magistrate to supreme court chief justice, in just nine months, has angered the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties.
 

The council's vice-president, Terry O'Gorman, said it was a throwback to the mid-1970s, when Terry Lewis, in a year, went from being an obscure country inspector at Charleville to police commissioner, leapfrogging better-qualified senior police.
 

The condemnation comes a day after Peter Davis, QC, quit as head of the Queensland Bar Association after the attorney-general, Jarrod Bleijie, leaked confidential discussions he had had with one of the minister's senior staff about Carmody's possible selection.
 

"The leaking of confidential discussions the attorney-general had with Peter Davis, QC, ... is an extraordinary development that cannot be left unaddressed," O'Gorman said in a statement.
 

O'Gorman, a criminal lawyer, said this was a serious breach of convention.
 

And it has been revealed that the attorney-general had a private dinner at an upmarket Brisbane restaurant with Carmody a week before he officially took over as chief magistrate.
 

Carmody, who this week was controversially appointed as the state's next chief justice, is being criticised for being too close to the government.
 

He was announced as Queensland's new chief magistrate on September 5 last year, and four days later he had a private dinner with Bleijie at Urbane Restaurant, documents obtained by AAP show.
 

The personal dinner between Bleijie and Carmody between 7pm and 8.30pm on September 9, which took place a week before he officially took over as chief magistrate, does not feature on the public diary of ministerial meetings.
 

But Bleijie told AAP through a spokesman that personal diary events were usually exempt from public reporting rules, adding that the dinner with Carmody was social.
 

"I do see various members of the judiciary socially from time to time," he said.
 

"That particular dinner was a congratulatory catch-up following his honour's appointment as chief magistrate."
 

The Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, announced in November 2012 a policy whereby he and his cabinet would publicly release their diaries every month.
 

Meanwhile, a former state solicitor-general, Walter Sofronoff, QC, said Carmody needed to reconsider his supreme court chief justice appointment.
 

"He shouldn't be chief justice. He should do the gracious thing and realise that all of this has been a horrible mistake and say that he wouldn't accept the appointment," Sofronoff told ABC television.
 

"Judge Carmody is somebody who has, by his own actions, identified himself too closely with the government."
 

As chief magistrate in late 2013, he angered the legal profession by issuing a directive that only he would deal with disputed bail applications made by alleged bikies.
 

The attorney-general's spokesman said that Carmody's directive last year stipulated that bikie bail matters be heard in one courtroom.
 

Bleijie resisted calls at the time for Carmody to step down as chief magistrate, while the Queensland Law Society and civil libertarians slammed Queensland's anti-bikie laws.
 

The president of the Australian Bar Association, Mark Livesey, QC, speaking after
consultation with all the independent bars of Australia, on Saturday expressed serious concern about the events surrounding Carmody's promotion to chief justice.

“The handling of this matter has seriously called into question the appointment process and judicial independence,” Livesey said.

He expressed the ABA's strong support for Davis, who resigned in protest over the process that led to Carmody's appointment.

“It is regrettable that Davis felt it necessary to resign. His frustration about the process and the threat made to the bar is understandable. His principled stance is supported by barristers across Australia.

“It is essential to public confidence in the administration of justice that the process for the appointment of a chief justice should ensure that the appointment is made, and is seen to be made, solely on the basis of merit and with complete impartiality.”

“The present position is untenable,” Livesey said. “The attorney-general of Queensland must consider whether the breakdown in trust can be repaired. If confidentiality in the judicial appointment process cannot be assured he must reconsider whether he can continue in his position.”