Carmody rising

The stage is set for Queensland government's favoured bovver boy of the bench to be legged-up to CJ ... Deep soundings with the bar and QLS ... "No criticism" undertakings have been extracted by the Conveyancer General ... Cossack says Tim Carmody is unsuitable to lead the judiciary ... Bar as good as endorses chief magistrate for CJ 

Carmody: less than a year as chief magistrate

WHEN rumours first surfaced that Chief Madge Tim Carmody was the Newman government's pick for Queensland CJ, Justinian thought this must be a cruel joke. 

Now the odds are tightening significantly. The Conveyancer General, Jiving Jarrod Bleijie, has sounded out both the Bar Association and the QLS. 

Word from the inner sanctum is that in back passage manoeuvring, both the bar and the QLS have said they are not keen about seeing Carmody leap frog to the chief justiceship, after less than a year as Chief Madge. 

Some members of Cabinet have not shown the required outbursts of delight either and there was a special meeting last week to discuss the issue. 

We understand the Conveyancer General managed to extract undertakings from the bar and the solicitors' society that they would not criticise Carmody's appointment, if it was made. 

Only if Bleijie suggests that Carmody's appointment is supported by the Bar Association will it be denied. 

In fact, today (June 10) the bar issued a statement which effectively supports Carmody as the replacement for Paul de Jersey. 

See: bar statement 

This is an extraordinary capitulation by the profession and shows the Conveyancer General is not a ditzy as he appears. 

Former solicitor general Walter Sofronoff is the only leading lawyer to come out publicly against Carmody as a prospective CJ.

His 1,700 word denounciation details, chapter and verse, the CM's shortcomings, including his compromising political utterances. 

The Cossack says the chief magistrate should state forthrightly that he is not available for the CJ's job. 

"He would thereby, instantly gain the respect of his colleagues, including me." 

See: Sofronoff article 

On reflection you can see that everything has been well-prepared. 

Sending Daphnis off to Fernberg, where he can wear his medals to dinner, was just the plan to give Timbo the leg-up to head the judiciary. 

The Bowen Hills Bugle is reporting that "some within the legal fraternity" have compiled a "dirt file" on Carmody. 

According to comments posted with the online story, some citizens think Timbo is just the man to "enforce" the government's laws. 

Other posts are quite upset that this favoured son is getting such a cosy rise to the top of the greasy pole. 

The Bugle declares the government wants a "reformist leader" at the Supreme Court. 

As Chief Madge, Carmody did reformist things like sending emails to all his beaks advising them how to apply the bail law to bikies. 

See: Corporal punishment 

It would be interesting to see how the Supremes react to emails from the CJ advising them how to apply the law. 

Other reform proposals of the Chief Madge include: limiting appeals from beaks, centralising contested bail applications into his hands, urging judges to be nice to the government on policy issues - an idea that led to a gentle rebuke from the Judicial Conference of Australia.  

Maybe the "dirt file" contains a list of bikie bail decisions that have been overturned on appeal and details of his unhappy five years as a Family Court judge, where he was also rolled many times up judges upstairs - to such an extent that he left the court saying that he did not see it as his "career path". 

Looks like he may have found one.