Parenting case before Judge Guy Andrew of the Circus Court … Brute on the bench … Is mentoring all there is? … Horrifying transcript … How did this abusive creature end up as a judge? … A fortiori … Federal judicial commission absent without leave … Associate of judges Ginger Snatch reports 

There’s a transcript. There’s an appeal process. There’s tons of precedent about rude, bullying judges and cases having to be remitted for a fresh hearing. And there’s Judge Guy Andrew of the Federal Circus Court. 

The penny never dropped with this hopelessly out-of-control judicial officer over three days of proceedings in a family law parenting dispute, Adacot v Sowle. 

It’s unfathomable that he didn’t for a moment imagine that his unadulterated courtroom nastiness would see the light of day and made him the subject of widespread disgust. 

Judge Andrew’s bare knuckle assault on barrister Graeme Page QC and instructing solicitor Michael Dwyer, acting for the father in the dispute, put Sal Vasta’s bench bullying in the shade. 

The full family court found that Andrew’s conduct during the hearing was “hectoring, bullying, insulting and demeaning … cruel, humiliating and rude”, amounting to an abuse of his power. Appeal allowed. 

Among other things he accused Dwyer of having a “cognition issue” and a “cognition problem”. 

And this is in addition to the heavy handed sarcasm from the bench, such as “Keep assisting me Mr Page,” and “Take it that I can read English”. 

None of this seemed to be justified. As the Full Court said, “there was no basis to impugn the professionalism of the father’s queen’s counsel in the manner he did or at all”. 

The full court could not understand what behavioural problems the judge was having with Page, “and it is quite apparent from queen’s counsel’s response that he too was unsure what transgression he had committed”. 

“The oblique way in which the judge’s criticisms of queen’s counsel for the father were couched makes it very difficult to understand, as queen’s counsel clearly found, how his conduct was wanting. Equally so is the judge’s [repeated] use of the term ‘a fortiori’, however we see no point in attempting to delve further into that.”

Both the Queensland Law Society and the Law Council of Australia welcomed the appointment, largely because there had been a vacancy on the Townsville bench that urgently needed filling. 

Bill Potts from the QLS said Andrew is an “excellent” appointment while Arthur Moses at the LCA welcomed “the appointment of Guy Andrew as a full-time judge of the Federal Circuit Court in Townsville, after serious concerns were raised that the position had been vacant for over a month”. 

Page withdrew from the parenting hearing on the third day thinking that would “improve the atmosphere of the proceedings”. It did not. 

“If possible, the judge’s conduct worsened” as solicitor Michael Dwyer was now the primary target of Andrew’s spleen. 

Costs certificates payable by the Commonwealth for both parties were ordered. You’d hope that somehow or other Judge Andrew would be required to pay the costs out of his own pocket.

Bar Association of Queensland president Rebecca Treston QC was fast out of the blocks, pointing her rank ‘n’ file to judicial conduct protocols with the state and federal courts. 

The state protocol seems directed at the steps that can be taken with complaints about the “courtroom” conduct of judges, while the federal courts protocol is concerned with the “conduct of a judge within their jurisdiction”. 

“All court users, including litigants and legal practitioners, should rightly expect to be treated with respect when they come to court to have their matter dealt with or to undertake their work. 

I cannot comment on individual decisions but I can advise that the judge in question was a relatively new judge when the trial was heard and since his appointment in March 2019, has been sitting in a single-judge registry which can present a number of challenges. 

When concerns were raised with the court, additional judicial education and support mechanisms were quickly put in place such as mentoring and counselling, as well close monitoring. 

All judicial decisions are subject to appeal as well as criticism and that process has been invoked in this instance.”    

Shortly after, a court spokesperson announced that Andrew has been transferred to Brisbane where he would undergo “counselling, mentoring and his sittings will be monitored”. 

“In addition, the judge will receive further judicial training specifically on appropriate conduct in court.” 

Which makes you wonder what sort of knife and fork training they get at the Circus Court during the process of judicial induction.

If Sal Vasta is any guide, the “further judicial training” is unlikely to yield positive results, as we saw in the Crabman case, where Sal’s bias and transcript tampering took place after numerous previous shocking abusive episodes.  

Without a federal judicial commission all that is left to save us from brutes on the bench is the head of jurisdiction – in this case Two Wigs Willy, who is having trouble coping with the large number of judges under his management.

After Page withdrew, and there was a brief adjournment, the father’s solicitor Michael Dwyer announced his appearance and the following exchange occurred:

At a point in the primary judge’s hounding of the solicitor to hand up a case outline, Dwyer, having already informed Andrew that he did not have one, added that he was having difficulty understanding what judge wanted of him:

At a point during the trial, Judge Andrew broke off from discussing the Page’s general untruthfulness to point out some defect in the QC’s attire. The judge said: 

Baston said that Page’s jabot was untied and Page said he was not aware that it had come adrift.

That enough to go on with. The entire horror show can be found here, Adacot v Sowle.