Carmody made his situation worse: ex-judge

Queensland's chief justice worsened tensions within the judiciary by making the basic mistake of prejudging an application linked to one of the state's most notorious appeals, say two of his most strident critics.

Tim Carmody disqualified himself on Thursday from the lingering appeal of Brett Peter Cowan, who was convicted last year of murdering schoolboy Daniel Morcombe in 2003.

Recently retired judge Alan Wilson believes that raised an important question: If there was no problem with his continuing in the appeal, why did he disqualify himself?

Mr Carmody has described an application by Cowan's lawyers to have him struck out for apprehended bias over an April meeting with child protection advocate Hetty Johnston - five months after the appeal was first heard - as "absurd".

"In other words, he tells the applicant and the world that he's already made up his mind," Mr Wilson told ABC radio.

"It doesn't take a lawyer to see the mistake there - judges shouldn't prejudge cases."

Civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman agreed.

"The most junior legal officer knows that you don't make prejudgmental comments about a matter that's before you until you've seen the evidence, heard the argument, weighed the argument, and then you make a decision," he told AAP.

He said the refusal of Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo to sit with Justice Carmody shows the serious nature of the problems.

"This is, in my practising lifetime of 40 years, absolutely unprecedented."

The pending Cowan judgment was an "incredibly notorious" one and "ticked all the boxes" for apprehended bias, Mr O'Gorman said.

The chief justice's plight was of his own doing, Mr Wilson said.

"With great respect ... all his hand-wringing and self pity can't disguise the fact that it was a combination of his own delay (with his judgment) and his own fundamental mistakes that have brought about this very sad state of affairs," he said.

But he stopped short of calling for Mr Carmody to quit.

"I'm simply saying that insofar as any solution to this matter can arise anywhere ... it is entirely a matter within the hands of the chief justice or the parliament of Queensland."