The Tim Carmody affair : Australia's greatest judicial crisis.

Kensington, N.S.W. : UNSW Press, 2016.

87037

Carmody, Timothy, -- Judge, -- appointed 2013-2019.

Judges -- Selection and appointment -- Queensland.

Justice, Administration of -- Political aspects -- Queensland.

Judicial process -- Political aspects -- Queensland.

Judicial independence -- Queensland.

"In 2014 when Tim Carmody, a former police officer, was sworn in as Chief Justice of Queensland, he had been Chief Magistrate for only nine months and had never served on the Supreme Court. It was one of the most controversial judicial appointments in Australia's history. Chaos ensued. Appointed by then-premier Campbell Newman, Carmody lacked the experience and nous to hold Queensland's judicial system together. How could someone with a limited judicial background be appointed to such a powerful position? The Tim Carmody Affair explores his damaging and divisive tenure and the judicial rebellion that followed. It proposes ways Australia can improve the process of judicial appointments to avoid this kind of controversy again." -- Publisher's website. "The authors of this work are prominent legal academics at the University of Queensland and University of New South Wales, with a special interest in constitutional law. Their stated aim "has been to provide an accessible account of the brief yet highly controversial tenure of the eighteenth Chief Justice of Queensland". Their account is based upon the extensive materials which are currently available, including "a large amount of correspondence between members of the Supreme Court during this period" which was tabled in court or released under the Right to Information Act 2009. Drawing on this material, the authors then "ask some of the big questions" relating to the appointment of Judges, the extent to which Judges should be free to speak publicly about matters of controversy and the relations between the courts and the political process. There are obvious difficulties in writing about events which are so recent, so sensitive, and which cannot yet be fully understood by any external commentator. However, there is an obvious need to ask the questions posed by the authors, and their well-written and thoughtful analysis of these issues is to be welcomed." -- John McKenna QC, Queensland Law Reporter.

Includes index.

9781742234991

245 p. ; 21 cm