WINNIPEG — The Canadian Judicial Council will hold a public inquiry into a sex scandal involving an associate chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench.

The decision comes after a review panel of five judges concluded allegations surrounding Lori Douglas may be serious enough to remove her from the bench.

"All judges, including chief justices, must meet the high expectations of Canadians in the discharge of the duties of their offices," said Norman Sabourin, the Judicial Council's executive director and senior general counsel in Ottawa.

"The review panel's mandate is to determine whether the issues before them as they see them could be serious enough to warrant a judge's removal. In this case, having considered all the facts that were raised with them, all the allegations that were presented to them, they felt that there needed to be more of an investigation because the issues could be serious enough to warrant a judge's removal."

The judge's lawyer husband, Jack King, has already been reprimanded by the Law Society of Manitoba for suggesting to a client that he have sex with Douglas eight years ago. She was still a lawyer at that time.

King also gave Alexander Chapman nude photographs of Douglas and King also posted naked photos of her on a website. King at one point paid Chapman $25,000 for return of the photos, withdrew from practising for 10 months and sought treatment.

The case has generated lurid headlines virtually around the world since it first broke last year when Chapman decided to sue King, Douglas and their former law firm and took his story to the news media. All the lawsuits were eventually dropped or dismissed.

In March, King pleaded guilty to professional misconduct and was reprimanded by the law society and ordered to pay almost $14,000 to cover investigative and prosecution costs. He apologized for his behaviour, particularly to his wife, who he said had done nothing other than privately indulge him in his strange tastes.

"My behaviour was disgraceful," he said at the hearing. "To my wife, I can never apologize enough."

King admitted soliciting Chapman to have sex with Douglas and to sending him the photos. He also admitted that he arranged two meetings for drinks which all three attended.

Nothing happened and Douglas was appointed to the bench two years later. King returned to law and became a partner in a new firm he helped found.

The Judicial Council says additional details about the inquiry are to be released over the coming weeks.

There have only been eight such inquiries since the council's inception in 1971. This is believed to be the first involving a Manitoba judge.

The inquiry committee will be made up of an uneven number of individuals and most will be council members. The justice minister can appoint one or more participants, who must be lawyers with at least 10 years of experience.

An independent lawyer will be selected to present evidence. It will be up to the committee to decide on the scope of its work.

Only Parliament can remove a federally appointed judge from office.

Douglas hasn't been hearing any cases since the story broke and in February she stopped her administrative work in the family division of the court where she sat.

Sabourin said the federal justice minister has 60 days to decide whether he wishes to appoint anyone to the inquiry committee.

"As soon as we are aware of that we are going to proceed at the council as quickly as possible."

He said he expected the inquiry to begin work sometime in the fall.