Timbo’s last judgment as Qld CJ … Contenders for the chief’s job … Ken Hayne’s portrait
Banana Benders have had a pretty uninteresting time since the departure early last month of Timbo Carmody as chief justice.
Life has not been the same, and many at the bar are hoping The Bowen Hills Bugle will start a campaign to restore him to his high office – by popular demand. After all, the post of CJ has not yet been filled, and clearly the government is having difficulty finding someone with big enough shoes to replace Bluto.
Just before he announced his departure from the chief’s chair, to take on duties as a supplementary judicial member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, he penned one his last judgments as CJ.
Frost v Miller concerned a dispute over a solicitor’s cost agreement, and the CJ had several dictionaries on hand to assist his navigation of the Legal Profession Act.
Pluto was building-up a head of steam and by para 72 of his reasons he got to grips with the word “must”. Here he is nailing the meaning to the mast:
“The word ‘must’, when deployed as an auxiliary verb, may broadly be categorised as reflecting deontic, epistemic or dynamic modality. Deontic modality, discussed at [57], refers to the degree of freedom attached to the subject action (e.g. one must have a drivers licence to drive a motor vehicle on a public road). Epistemic modality refers to the degree of knowledge attached to the relevant subject (e.g., it must be problematic to drive a motor vehicle without a drivers licence on a public road). Dynamic modality, however, relates to the internal attributes of the subject (e.g. she can really speak eloquently).[38] In the context of s.323(3)(e), which prescribes formal requirements for conditional costs agreements, the word ‘must’ is evidently intended to express deontic modality. Accordingly, the use of ‘must’ as a deontic modal verb presumes the subjection of the main verb ‘contain’ to a duty.”
The government may take the chance to appoint a woman, in which event other women come into contention in addition to McMurdo and Holmes.
The government may have to also think about filling some other positions soon.
If Margaret McMurdo becomes CJ, then Holmes and Fraser are in line to be prez of the appeal court.
If Margaret McMurdo is passed over for CJ, she may not stay as prez forever.
I’m told the Yarraside bar n’ grill has commissioned Bill Henson to do a photographic portrait of the nubile Ken Hayne. If true, this is a masterly move.
It’s hoped it will hang alongside portraits of other ancient monuments in the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery.
We expect the work will capture the true Hayne, in the stark, grainy and moody tones perfected by Henson, with the subject bearing a trademark pained expression and plenty of gleaming flesh.
Interestingly, both Hayne and Henson are old Northcote boys.