The Attorney-General has defended changes to the way judges and magistrates can be appointed in the ACT, rejecting opposition criticism she had granted herself the power to make a captain's pick.
Tara Cheyne said the changes were "eminently sensible" and the support of key legal stakeholders was needed for appointments to proceed without an expressions-of-interest process.
"I would feel very uncomfortable taking a decision or a captain's pick without having the express support from the major stakeholders, including the head of jurisdiction," Ms Cheyne told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.
Opposition Leader Mark Parton said the changes were a fundamental breach of convention that gave the Attorney-General the power to hand pick judges without open competition.
"Judicial officers hold some of the most important positions in our community. The process must be transparent and rigorous to maintain public confidence in our courts," Mr Parton said.
"We call on the Attorney-General to immediately restore a single, open, and merit-based appointment process."
Ms Cheyne in March signed off on two legal instruments that added an extra selection process for magistrates and Supreme Court judges in the ACT, allowing the Attorney-General to recommend an appointee to cabinet as long as they had the endorsement of the ACT Bar Association, Law Society and Chief Justice.
The change means the Attorney-General can bypass an expressions-of-interest process that had required public notice and invitations to stakeholders to nominate suitable people for positions as a magistrate or judge.
Ms Cheyne told budget estimates she reconsidered the appointment process earlier this year when she faced two vacancies on the Supreme Court.
The impending retirement of the former chief magistrate and a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, along with a Supreme Court justice's potential move to serve as chief magistrate that would create another vacancy, prompted a rethink of the appointment process, she said.
"That process hasn't been in there since time immemorial, it has been in the last decade or so, through those notifiable instruments," she said.
"It did seem to me that they needed a refresh anyway, and that providing this flexible option, particularly in all of the circumstances as they presented themselves, was eminently sensible in the circumstances."
Louise Taylor, who had served as a Supreme Court judge, was appointed ACT Chief Magistrate in April, while Andrew Muller was appointed a resident judge of the Supreme Court in April.
Mr Parton said the Liberals welcomed the new judicial appointments and did not question the merit of the choices.
