The Tim Carmody Affair: Australia's Greatest Judicial Crisis

Description

When Tim Carmody was appointed Chief Justice of Queensland by Premier Campbell Newman in 2014, he had been Chief Magistrate for only nine months. It proved to be the most controversial judicial appointment in Australia's history. Carmody's elevation plunged the Supreme Court and the legal profession into a bitter conflict with the government and with Carmody himself. How did he come to be appointed to such a significant position? What can we learn from this saga about the fragile relationships between politics and the courts? The Tim Carmody Affair places the full story of Carmody's damaging and divisive tenure in context, and identifies key reforms that could prevent this kind of controversy in the future. 'A spellbinding and alarming account of one of Australia's great judicial dramas that ruptured the legal profession and the courts. The Newman Government's appointment of Tim Carmody as Queensland's Chief Justice is a story of patronage, betrayal, leaking, and political folly. Brilliant and revealing.' - Richard Ackland

Rebecca Ananian-Welsh is a lecturer at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland. She has published widely on the separation of powers in Australia, with a particular focus on controversial anti-bikie laws. She has also undertaken major research projects for the Judicial Conference on Australia and has provided media comment on matters of Queensland law and justice. Gabrielle Appleby is an associate professor in law at the University of New South Wales, and previously worked for the Queensland Crown Solicitor and the Victorian Government Solicitor s Office. She teaches in public and constitutional law, has published widely in her field and has co-authored several books, including Australian Public Law (2014) and Government Accountability: Australian Administrative Law (2014). She is currently the Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Grant on the separation of powers in the States. Andrew Lynch is a professor of law at the University of New South Wales, has written on judicial decision-making on the High Court for many years, and has recently been researching and publishing in the area of judicial appointments reform. He has co-authored several books, including Inside Australia s Anti-Terrorism Laws and Trials (2015) and What Price Security? Taking Stock of Australia s Anti-Terrorism Laws (2006), and has written extensively on the Carmody affair in the media.