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Solicitor removed from roll for accusing Chief Justice of corruption
A Victorian solicitor who made a number of “scandalous” and unfounded allegations about the Chief Justice and other judicial officers of the Supreme Court has been removed from the roll.
Naomi Neilson
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From 2012 until late last year, Peter John Mericka (pictured) targeted judges of the Supreme Court, legal practitioners, and a range of other individuals with “extremely serious allegations”, including baseless claims of corruption and criminal offending.
Justice Claire Harris determined the allegations demonstrate Mr Mericka has “consistently failed to appreciate and understand the elementary ethical standards that apply to a lawyer, or has deliberately contravened those ethical standards”.
“The manner in which he raised the allegations demonstrates an absence of knowledge of fundamental aspects essential to legal practice as well as a lack of moral integrity,” Justice Harris said.
A number of the allegations were traced back to a 2011 proceeding brought by the director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, who had alleged Mr Mericka practised as a real estate agent without a licence.
After Justice Michael Sifris found in favour of the director, Mr Mericka wrote a letter to the Chief Justice to “lodge a complaint of bias and incompetence” against Justice Sifris for “allowing his court to be used for the purposes of ‘laundering’ corrupt conduct”.
During 2014, Mr Mericka made a number of publications on his website, which is still active at the time of writing.
One article called for then-chief justice Marilyn Warren to resign over unfounded allegations of making a “deliberate attempt to have him wrongfully prosecuted and discredited” and “attempting to further launder corrupt conduct through the judicial system of Victoria”.
In 2023, Mr Mericka republished articles containing allegations of corruption and criminal conduct directed at the director of Consumer Affairs and employees of the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner.
On LinkedIn, Mr Mericka wrote that he has spent a decade “fighting with Victorian Legal Services Commissioners and a bent Chief Justice” to prompt an investigation into the director.
In submissions to the Supreme Court, the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner said the allegations were “scandalous and vexatious” and had all been made without a proper basis.
The commissioner said this conduct demonstrates Mr Mericka is “unable to judge the ethical standard that his conduct must meet”.
While Mr Mericka did not appear at the hearing, he did send a letter to the Supreme Court setting out that he did not contest the application and requested that his name be removed.
However, in the letter, Mr Mericka said he stood by “each and every complaint and allegation” he had made, and he wanted to remove his name in protest against “ongoing corruption” in the legal system.
This letter and his recent LinkedIn post confirmed Justice Harris’ finding that Mr Mericka has a “continuing commitment to making unfounded allegations of corruption against the court and others”.
Justice Harris ordered Mr Mericka’s name be removed from the roll.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
