Trio of Queensland Supreme Court judges angrily reject ‘revolt’ claims

TOP Supreme Court judges have furiously denied orchestra­ting a revolt against Queensland’s controversial new Chief Justice.

TOP Supreme Court judges have furiously denied orchestra­ting a revolt against Queensland’s controversial new Chief Justice, as one of the state’s senior silks urged the legal community to get back to work.

The furore over the Newman government’s appointment of Tim Carmody to the state’s top judicial job will come to a head this morning in Brisbane’s largest and most prestigious courtroom, the Banco Court.

Supreme Court judges and many of the state’s elite barris­ters are expected to boycott today’s public “welcoming ceremony’’ for Chief Justice Carmody and new Supreme Court judge Peter Flanagan QC.

But a trio of senior Supreme Court judges yesterday denied leading a “revolt” and “deliberate campaign” against Chief Justice Carmody in an effort to force him to quit his post or accept a lesser role as District Court head.

In a jointly issued and rare media release from sitting judges, Supreme Court judges Philip McMurdo, Martin Daubney and David Boddice strongly rejected the allegations made by Brisbane newspaper The Courier-Mail.

“Each of the allegations is completely false,” the judges’ statement read.

“It is a matter of grave concern that The Courier-Mail published these false statements without referring them to us for comment before publication.”

It had been suggested the trio were encouraging retired or retiring judges to publicly attack Chief Justice Carmody.

In recent days, former judge Richard Chesterman said the court would be irreparably damaged by Chief Justice Carmody, while soon-to-retire sitting judge John Muir also suggested he was not up to the job.

Both suggested Chief Justice Carmody was inexperienced and unqualified for the role.

Many in the legal community are tiring of the public campaign against the former chief magistrate, who replaces new Governor Paul de Jersey as Chief Justice.

In his first public comments on the appoint­ment, high-profile barrister Peter Callaghan SC told The Australian the time had come for his colleagues to get back to work.

“I wish him (Chief Justice Carmody) well and it’s time to move on and return our attention to the legal carnage of the (Premier Campbell) Newman and (Attorney-General Jarrod) Bleijie government,” said Mr Callaghan, the president of the Law and Justice Institute.

Mr Callaghan is a vocal critic of some of the Liberal National Party’s legislative reforms, but said it was a government’s prerogative to appoint judges.

He said attention should ­instead be turned to the erosion of judicial discretion in matters such as bail applications for ­bikies.

Others have suggested to The Australian that if Chief Justice Carmody’s critics cannot respect the man, they should at least respect his high office.

Just before the judges released their statement, Premier Newman said all public officials should “get on with the job of serving their fellow Queenslanders”.

“As public officials, we have a duty, a sworn duty, to serve the people of this stage,” Mr Newman said.