What Corbell saidACT Chief Magistrate Ron Cahill has been stood down from the bench pending the outcome of a Judicial Commission into his conduct.
Attorney-General Simon Corbell announced his decision to hold the commission - the first of its kind for an ACT judicial officer - in the Legislative Assembly yesterday and told the chamber that he was acting on a complaint about Mr Cahill's conduct made by his fellow magistrates John Burns and Karen Fryar.
Mr Corbell told the Assembly that as a result of the decision to hold the inquiry ''the Chief Magistrate is excused from performing his functions as Chief Magistrate''.
Mr Cahill said in a statement issued by his barrister that he was looking forward to being exonerated by the commission.
Mr Corbell told the Assembly that the complaint was ''that, on or about 21st of October, 2009, the Chief Magistrate caused or procured the creation and transmission of written material to Special Magistrate Peter Lauritsen which had, or might have had, the effect of interfering with the conduct of criminal proceedings to be heard by him relating to a public figure known professionally and socially to the Chief Magistrate before the proceedings commenced.''
The case that Mr Lauritsen was due to hear is subject to non-publication orders and details cannot be printed.
Later in his statement to the Assembly, the Attorney-General said he believed the complaint he had received from magistrates Burns and Fryar on October 23 ''should be treated as a complaint for the purposes of the [Judicial Commissions] Act.'' ''I further believe that the complaint, if substantiated, would justify consideration by the Legislative Assembly of a resolution requiring the removal from office of the Chief Magistrate,'' Mr Corbell said.
''The complaint is a serious one; if proved, the alleged behaviour could amount to an attempt to influence the conduct of a proceeding.''
Mr Corbell said the news of Mr Cahill's removal would ''shock and sadden'' many in the community, particularly in the legal profession.
''I share those feelings today, yet I must also reiterate that the proper administration of justice, and maintenance of public confidence in that administration, must be our primary concerns at this time,'' he said.
Mr Cahill, who is due to retire when he turns 65 on December 15, is also the subject of a separate investigation by ACT Policing detectives who are pursuing inquiries into whether the alleged supply of the material was a breach of the territory's criminal code.
The Judicial Commission, made up of three retired interstate Supreme Court judges - Justices James Wood and Jerrold Cripps, both of NSW, and Justice Ted Mulligan, of South Australia will decide if Mr Cahill's alleged conduct constituted misbehaviour.
Mr Corbell told the Assembly that he had taken advice from the ACT Government Solicitor before referring the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions. ''Whilst any possible criminal charges are currently being investigated by the AFP, I am still bound to acknowledge the gravity of the alleged behaviour,'' he told his fellow MLAs.
The Judicial Commission is the first step in establishing whether there are grounds for permanently removing a judicial officer from his or her duties under the Judicial Commissions Act 1994. If the commission upholds the complaint, the Legislative Assembly would then vote to grant cabinet the power to remove the judicial officer.
Mr Cahill was in the Accident and Emergency Department of the Canberra Hospital yesterday when he heard the news of his removal, awaiting treatment on a foot he injured earlier in the day in an accident. His barrister, John Purnell, SC, issued a statement from the Chief Magistrate yesterday afternoon in response to Mr Corbell's announcement. ''The Chief Magistrate is looking forward to being exonerated by the Judicial Commission,'' the statement said. ''It's not uncommon in both the Supreme Court and the Magistrates Court when a visiting judge or special magistrate has been appointed, for whatever reason, to have prepared for that visiting judge or magistrate written material that will help in the preparation of the matter.
''In this case, because of the identity of the defendant, no local magistrate could hear the matter.
''The purpose of sending this material to the special magistrate was simply to provide relevant material to assist him in understanding the issues in the case.
''There was no other purpose intended in providing this material.
''The special magistrate is an experienced judicial officer who is fully capable of exercising an independent mind and who would have ignored any material sent to him if he decided that material was not helpful or irrelevant.''
Mr Corbell said the Government was prepared to move amendments to the Judicial Commissions Act to allow the commission to continue its work after the Chief Magistrate's retirement.
After making his statement to the Assembly, the Attorney-General told a press conference that Mr Cahill would be allowed to complete judgments on matters that had already been heard but that he would not be permitted to sit on cases.
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