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allegation that Mr Justice Barker had told someone that he was going to discharge all of the defendants whatever arguments were put forward. If this could be substantiated, he would regard it as most serious and thought that it would provide sufficient grounds for a tribunal to recommend the judge's dismissal. If however it could not be substantiated he thought that Mr Justice Barker's admission of talking indiscreetly was grounds for putting pressure on him to resign but not for holding a tribunal.
5.
The Governor said that both the CJ and CJ Designate seemed to consider that the question of legal error had been dealt with by the Court of Appeal ruling. Mr Justice Barker had admitted drinking and behaving indiscreetly during the trial. The CJ thought that taken together these did not provide sufficient grounds for holding a tribunal. The CJ Designate agreed with this but thought that they were sufficient for pressure to be put upon him to resign.
6.
The Governor asked how Mr Justice Barker had behaved since the Carrian trial and what opinion his fellow judges held of him. The CJ said that his information was that as he began to recover from his consumption of alcohol he had performed better and was now behaving quite sensibly and normally. He thought that opinion among judges of the High Court was split. Some felt that he should leave the Judiciary. Others felt that although he might have been asked to resign immediately after the case he was now performing sufficiently well to make this inappropriate. The CJ added that he still considered it a strong possiblity that Mr Justice Barker would be severely affected by his wife's death when this took place.
7.
The CJ Designate said that he generally agreed with this assessment. He had, when Acting CJ, given instructions that Mr Justice Barker should not be allowed to preside over the Court of Appeal or to handle difficult cases. His impression however was that most of the Justices of Appeal had lost confidence in him and did not want to sit with him. This was not sufficient grounds for holding a tribunal but he thought that it was an extremely serious situation that justified putting pressure on him to resign. He believed that if a judge in another jurisdiction became aware of such a situation he would feel obliged to resign. When he had put this to Mr Justice Barker however he seemed to be more concerned by his own financial situation. The Governor said that the Judges of Appeal seemed to be saying different things to the CJ and the CJ Designate. The CJ Designate said that he thought that it was not necessary for there to be an unanimous view. It was bad enough if even some of his colleagues had lost confidence in him.
8.
The CJ said that at his meeting with Mr Justice
CONFIDENTIAL
/Barker in the
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