Tim Carmody has resigned as Queensland chief justice, ending ongoing controversy around his leadership of the state’s courts since his appointment less than a year ago.
Carmody will remain a supreme court judge and is being considered as the next president of the state legal tribunal that hears minor civil disputes in what the attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, said was “a dignified end to the controversy”.
“This arrangement is intended to resolve issues currently surrounding the Queensland judiciary and to restore certainty and stability in the due administration of justice within the state,” D’Ath said on Wednesday.
“The chief justice’s sacrifice of the significant rights, remuneration and privileges of the office of chief justice is recognised as an honourable act.”
Carmody said his decision to resign was not made lightly and was hopeful it would restore public confidence in the judiciary.
In a letter to Queensland Law Society president, Michael Fitzgerald, Carmody said the decision was made after “long and anxious thought” and broad consultation with family, friends and advisers.
“I hope it will be understood and taken in the light it is intended and that is to restore the dignity of the judiciary and the public confidence in its ability to administer justice,” the letter said.
It follows weeks of negotiation after Carmody offered to resign in May in a bid to end dysfunction in relations with fellow judges amid criticism of his work ethic, legal ability and private treatment with colleagues.
Carmody’s elevation from chief magistrate by the former Newman government in July 2014 has become one of the most contentious legal appointments in modern Australian legal history.
It was opposed by senior legal figures in part because of his perceived closeness to the former government and its law and order agenda. Carmody’s meetings with key LNP figures at key points of his legal career included a private dinner with the former premier Campbell Newman before taking medical leave from which he returned this week.
His subsequent falling-out with colleagues included appeal court president Margaret McMurdo refusing to work with him after their joint hearing of the appeal of Daniel Morcombe’s killer descended into acrimony in May. Carmody accused McMurdo of “judicial interference” – which she curtly rejected as “ill-conceived” - before he withdrew from the case amid accusations of apprehended bias.
Carmody was also condemned by colleagues for interfering in the role of another judge in preparing to hear a potential legal challenge by the governing Liberal National party to a crucial Queensland election result in February.
Senior judge administrator John Byrne secretly recorded a confrontation with him, Carmody and the other judge during this dispute, in which the chief justice purportedly called his colleagues collectively “scum” and one a “fat fuck”.
He sacked Byrne then overturned his decision in the face of united condemnation again from other judges.
Retiring judge Alan Wilson in a March valedictory speech said most judges had lost all respect for Carmody, with morale on the bench having declined to the point where even younger judges were considering resigning.
Wilson said Carmody’s appointment was a “failed experiment”, criticising his lack of demonstrated legal ability and his apparent preference for public relations over court work.
Wilson and the Queensland bar association recently rejected Carmody’s claims of “festering” cultural problems in the judiciary long before his appointment.
The government rebuffed Carmody’s call for reforms, which he did not specify beyond an independent judicial commission, when he made that a condition of his resignation in May.
However, D’Ath said on Wednesday that the government “in the spirit of moving forward” would provide a mediator to help supreme court judges “in identifying and developing appropriate work practices and standards within the court”.
The mediator would be of “eminent legal experience and seniority”, she said.
D’Ath said the principle of separation of powers between the executive and judiciary meant “this decision was one for his honour alone and he has shown strength of character in making his decision to [resign]”.
She said Carmody would serve as a “supplementary judicial member” of the Queensland civil administrative tribunal until the position of president became vacant.
D’Ath said she intended to give “favourable consideration to the judge’s appointment to that position”.
“The government acknowledges the chief justice’s decision to resign in the public interest and wishes him every future professional and personal success,” she said.