For Queensland magistrate Jacqui Payne, it is not the first time she has found herself out of step with the police when she granted bail to Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef in a case relating to charges of supporting a terrorist organisation.

A year after her appointment as a magistrate in 1999, Payne was criticised by Queensland's powerful police union after she decided not to punish a drunk who swore at and fought with an officer outside police headquarters in Brisbane.

Police union president Gary Wilkinson said Payne's decision was 'a disgrace' and claimed she was among recently appointed magistrates believed to be 'totally anti-police,' according to The Australian daily report on Tuesday.

Payne was embroiled in a controversy when she refused a direction by the then chief magistrate, Stan Deer, to work in Townsville, arguing that she needed to look after her five young children.

She appealed to Queensland's chief justice, Paul de Jersey, who ruled in her favour. In the ensuing row, Deer, who had been a magistrate for 27 years, lost the battle and threw in the towel, five years short of his retirement age.      

Payne, 46, is married to well-known defence lawyer Andrew Boe, who came to national prominence when he defended murderer Ivan Milat in 1996 and in recent years has acted on behalf of the people of Palm Island in North Queensland.