In my article, A Crisis of Confidence, I said the process of appointing Tim Carmody QC DCJ to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland had been compromised and his governance of the Supreme Court had been coloured because the following four (4) important principles no longer enjoyed confidence:
- The integrity, reputation and standing of the Courts is paramount;
- The Judiciary must be independent from the other arms of Government;
- The Judiciary must clearly and unquestionably be seen to be independent from the other arms of Government;
- Any person who is appointed to lead the Supreme Court of Queensland ought to have the general respect of the legal profession and the Judges of the Supreme Court.”
The Rule of Law
I said in my A Crisis of Confidence article, “Queensland is a democratic society. Within that democracy Queensland has chosen to make the rule of law a constituent part of its justice system and therefore its societal structure. In its simplest form the rule of law endeavours to ensure justice for all according to law by placing no one above the law. Adhering to such a societal structure does not always come easy and is not without its challenges. However a society without rules quickly becomes no society at all.
“The rule of law underpins constitutional power in Queensland. At any given time within a community embracing the rule of law there will be debate as to what is and is not, may or may not be correct and proper for that community. So long as that debate is confined to adhering to the structure that ultimately defines the rule of law, the society can continue to function. Once a decision is taken to go outside that structure, the result can be that the system fails to operate to uphold its own foundational concept, namely the rule of law, and then the system itself undermines its own existence. In that case the society finds itself without any system of rules to guide it as to its behaviour.”
