Public hearing into the conduct of Judge Garry Neilson wraps-up … Conduct Division of the Judicial Commission now weighing the various “punishments” … Reeducation camp, no more sex cases,  private spanking with a wet lettuce leaf … Emily Meller reports 

While Justice Nigel Rein, who presided at the conduct division’s hearing for the past day and a half, stressed this was still an option, both counsel assisting the commission, Philip Strickland SC, and for the judge, Phillip Boulten SC, seemed to be in agreement that such a referral was not necessary.

The second day of the hearing saw closing statements from both sides to determine whether comments made by Judge Neilson amounted to bringing the District Court into disrepute. 

This followed evidence on Monday, during which Neilson conceded that some of his comments “might” be interpreted in a way that would undermine public confidence in the judiciary, although he suggested only if they were taken out of context.

Judge Neilson was referred to the NSW Judicial Commission by former NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard, following remarks in a criminal trial in which he said that since homosexuality is now widely accepted, so the community might not now regard sexual relations between siblings or adults and children as “unnatural [or] taboo”. 

He added that the only reason incest was outlawed in modern society was to prevent “chromosomal abnormalities”. 

Strickland sought to establish that Judge Neilson’s comments, “did in fact undermine public confidence in the judiciary”. 

He said that the impugned words did not need to be taken out of context for “an ordinary and reasonable reader” to interpret them as equating homosexuality to sexual relationships between an adult and a child.

He asked the conduct division not to dismiss the complaint against Neilson, but rather that it make recommendations that would stop him from sitting on sexual assault cases in the future.

Phillip Boulten sought to emphasise that such a recommendation would not be practical, given the heavy workload and time pressures placed on District Court judges. 

He submitted that the courts are “at a breaking point”, with consistently increasing case-loads placing immense pressure on a relatively small pool of judges. 

Strickland added that “in his own experience” delays of up to one year for a trial to be heard were now commonplace.

It was also revealed by Boulten that, contrary to media reports, Judge Neilson has continued to hear criminal trials following the complaint against him in July 2014. 

He was never formally stood down from hearing criminal trials by the the chief judge of the District Court Derek Price. 

Rather, he was not rostered on for a number of months immediately following the formal complaint against him. In the interim, he had resumed his full duties in the court. 

After Neilson’s remarks came to light, attorney general Hazzard requested the then chief judge, Reg Blanch, to remove Neilson from trying criminal cases. It was widely understood that this had been done. 

The public hearing, overseen by Justice Rein, Roger Boland, a former president of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, and lay member Rosemary Sinclair, concluded following closing arguments. It was one part of a substantial investigation into the complaint against Judge Neilson. 

The conduct division will make their determination about whether to dismiss the complaint, refer Neilson to parliament or make recommendations for further action to be taken by the chief judge.