A High Court action by a retired judge who wants to return to practice as a barrister will be heard in May.
The action by 71-year-old former Central Criminal Court judge Barry White is a challenge to a Bar Council rule which prevents him practising in a court equal to or lower than the one he presided over, in his case all courts below the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Mr White claims he must return to practice as a barrister due to financial necessity and has said his pension entitlements were insufficient to meet the needs of his family.
At a preliminary hearing today lawyers for the retired judge said it appeared the Bar Council was attempting to trawl through his financial affairs and treat his High Court action like a family law case.
Senior Counsel John Rogers said a lot of financial information had already been handed over by Barry White.
He said there was no requirement to hand over further information in a case which was centred on the right to earn a livelihood.
At a previous hearing lawyers for the Bar Council said they had requested information on assets and liabilities of Mr White and his spouse.
They said the request was made on the basis of his claims that his pension entitlements were insufficient to meet his needs.
Lawyers for the Bar Council said it was not the case they were pursuing the information as if it were a family law case.
Douglas Clarke, for the council, also said the claims had been made on a very broad basis and involved many issues and the council needed to be able to establish the scope of the case.
While Mr White had withdrawn parts of his statement of grounds regarding competition law, the case involved many more issues than simply the right to earn a livelihood, he said.
The court ordered that lawyers for Mr White be allowed to inspect a copy of a review carried out previously by Bar Council Director General Gerry Carroll concerning the re-admission of former judges to the Law Library.
Mr White has four children, all of whom are in full-time education.
He argues the Bar Council has no jurisdiction to impose such conditions on judges returning to practice.
Mr Justice Max Barrett said he will hear the case in May.
