The Northern Territory Independent is reporting that Justice Stephen Southwood has been cleared of a malice complaint lodged with the NT Judicial Commission by Alistair Wyvill SC.

However, complaints alleging the judge’s breaches of the basic rules of judicial conduct, bullying, and delays had been substantiated and referred to Chief Justice Michael Grant for “mentoring and counselling”.

The inquiry was conducted by South Australia’s Justice Patricia Kelly, who found that the substantiated complaints were “not sufficiently serious to justify removal from office or termination of appointment”.

On the complaint relating to malice, Kelly said that Southwood “erred in law” and that his conduct as not “optimal”, but she decided it was “not substantiated”.

After the malice complaint was determined, the Judicial Commission told the NT Independent that there were no remaining allegations against Justice Soutwood.

However, it only emerged in the Commission’s annual report that there had been “substantiated” complaints about judicial bullying that had been sent to Grant CJ.

Alistair Wyvill, who brought the complaints, told the NT Independent that there had not been a proper investigation of Southwood’s conduct “as a whole”, including taking up to five years for him to deliver judgments.

“In my opinion, any such consideration would lead to the conclusion that he is unfit.”

The malice complaint emerged from the judicial review proceedings conducted by Southwood following an inquiry by a former federal police officer that found bias against a Labor politician, Delia Lawrie, over the lease of the historic Stella Maris site in Darwin to Unions NT.

Wyvill acted pro bono for Lawrie at the inquiry. Even though he was not a party to the subsequent litigation and was not called as a witness, nonetheless Southwood made critical findings against the silk, claiming he had devised a strategy to “disengage and discredit” the inquiry conducted by the retired copper.

For his part, Wyvill contended that the judicial review findings were “politically motivated”.

It has taken more than four years for the Judicial Commission to arrive at its “findings”. According to the NT Independent, for over two years the Judicial Commission has not heard back from the Chief Justice on how he implemented the recommendations for the mentoring and counselling of the Southwood.

See: Alistair Wyvill’s response to the Report of the Investigation Panel

See: The Star of the Sea Emits a Twinkle

And: Darwin’s Glacier