This dispute between Mr Justice Flood and Mr Garrett Cooney was not the first serious disagreement between a barrister and a judge concerning the conduct of a cross-examination.
In the 1940s a barrister called Thomas Doyle was appearing before a Judge Fossett in a criminal trial. Judge Fossett told him to stop a line of cross-examination he was pursuing. Doyle refused, saying it was necessary in the interests of his client. Fossett ordered him imprisoned and he was promptly taken into custody.
The matter was referred to the Bar Council, which called what was effectively a strike: it said no barrister was to appear before this judge until he had apologised to Doyle.
The judge did indeed apologise. The incident did nothing to harm Doyle's career - he became a senior counsel in 1954 and was both secretary and chairman of the Bar Council between 1963 and 1967 and represented Ireland on the International Bar Association.
He became a High Court judge in 1974, where he served until his retirement in 1984. He was one of the High Court judges on the Special Criminal Court. He died in 1986. Rather less was heard of Judge Fossett.
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