Court records show that Carmody, who has been dogged by widespread criticism, delivered three considered judgments in six months compared with 20 by Paul de Jersey

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Chief justice Tim Carmody, the Newman government’s most controversial appointment who this week signed off on the Queensland election as acting governor, has struggled to match the work rate of his supreme court predecessor.

Court records online show Carmody in his first six months delivered three considered judgments compared with 20 by Paul de Jersey in his final six months before becoming governor.

Only one of Carmody’s three decisions that have been published – which reflects the number of complex cases he has been involved with – has not been the subject of an appeal.

The appointment of Carmody, who was elevated after nine months as chief magistrate last June, was dogged by widespread criticism from senior legal figures of his inexperience as a judge, his perceived closeness to the government, and lack of support from fellow judges.

Controversy was further inflamed when a former LNP ministerial staffer was accused of threatening the bar association with removal of its statutory powers if it did not support Carmody’s appointment.

Carmody celebrated his appointment with the former staffer, barrister Ryan Haddrick, in a Brisbane brasserie after a swearing-in ceremony that was snubbed by senior judges.

On Tuesday Carmody acted in place of De Jersey, who was on leave, by receiving the premier Campbell Newman for election formalities at government house.

Carmody and his wife Robyn, who worked as magistrates court registrar while he was chief magistrate, then appointed to acting magistrate the month before his elevation to chief justice, earn salaries totalling $791,000.

Two of Carmody’s unpublished decisions last year as chief justice were overturned.

This included his refusal of bail to a mother of eight who – having given up cannabis after her arrest three years earlier for helping her partner run street-level trafficking to support their habit – was placed in custody and her children left without a parent.

The court of appeal ruled Carmody had “inadvertently overlooked” compelling reasons why the woman, who had not used cannabis for three years, should not be in jail, which “would result in significant or exceptional hardship to her eight young children”.



In staying Carmody’s orders in a business contracts dispute, appeal court justice John Muir noted there was “a fairly arguable case” Carmody had denied natural justice and erred in law by failing to give adequate reasons for his decision.

Carmody, who went on to talkback radio to defend his appointment last year, said on the day it was confirmed that he didn’t aspire to “compete with [other supreme court judges] for intellectual rigour”.

“I’ve often said and I’m sure nobody will argue that I may not be the smartest lawyer in the room, and if you were in a room with me and I was the smartest lawyer it would be a good time to leave it,” Carmody told ABC.

“But there’s more to being chief justice than a black letter lawyer.”

Former family court chief justice Alastair Nicholson has defended his former colleague Carmody as “deep-thinking, reliable, innovative and sensible”.

Carmody’s perceived closeness with the government came from his stint as chief magistrate, during which he urged colleagues to deny “bikie” defendants bail during the government’s gang crackdown, then directed all bikie bail applications be heard in his Brisbane court.

Children’s court president Michael Shanahan last month criticised Carmody’s “spurious” advice that led to the government stripping juveniles’ right to a speedy appeal, saying it likely meant children were serving excessive time in detention.