Tim Carmody to retire with little fanfare and no valedictory plans
He entered and exited the chief justice role amid a storm of controversy, and Tim Carmody’s retirement from the judiciary will also break with tradition.
FORMER chief justice Tim Carmody is set to make a quiet exit from the judiciary when he officially leaves the Supreme Court bench next month.
Justice Carmody will retire on Monday, and The Courier-Mail can reveal there are no plans to hold the traditional judicial valedictory ceremony to mark his departure.
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“Justice Carmody has not requested the court to hold a valedictory,” a courts spokeswoman confirmed.
Senior legal sources told The Courier-Mail there was speculation Justice Carmody had requested to make a speech in the ceremonial Banco Court to mark his departure rather than holding a traditional valedictory.
When asked if this was the case, a spokesman for the Office of Chief Justice Catherine Holmes responded: “The Chief Justice has not received any request from Justice Carmody for any form of valedictory”.
His retirement comes just more than five years after his controversial ascension from chief magistrate to Queensland’s top judge caused a public judicial and political spat that rocked both the courts and the former Newman government.
It was an appointment former premier Campbell Newman later described as one of his biggest political regrets despite maintaining Justice Carmody was the right man for the job.
Such was the fallout, Justice Carmody declined to hold a public swearing ceremony to mark his appointment.
He instead opted to be sworn in as Chief Justice behind closed doors with just his family present.
A welcome ceremony held a month later was only attended by one of the 26 Supreme Court judges at the time.
Justice Carmody would last just 12 months in the job before resigning in July 2015 and taking up a spot on the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The judge — who also previously served on the Federal Court bench — initially hoped to be considered for QCAT president, but later pulled out of the running.
He retires with a judicial pension worth almost $300,000 a year.
Originally published as Tim Carmody to retire with little fanfare and no valedictory plans