Labor has savaged the decision to cancel the evidence of two senior judges at a parliamentary inquiry into the scourge of domestic violence.
Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Diana Bryant and Chief Judge John Pascoe of the Federal Circuit Court were due to front a hearing in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon.
But the hearing was canned on Monday night after concerns were raised by committee chair, Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, over an ongoing contempt of court case involving three federal ministers.
Ministers Greg Hunt, Alan Tudge and Michael Sukkar are facing possible contempt charges for criticising Victorian judges over terror sentencing.
The trio have told the Victorian State Court they regret their language but won't apologise for their comments.
Ms Henderson said given the legal proceedings, the committee should seek the attorney's advice on the appropriateness of senior members of the judiciary being questioned by MPs.
But the deputy chair of the committee, Labor MP Sharon Claydon, said the decision to scrap the hearing showed outrageous disrespect to the judges and blatant disregard for parliamentary process.
Ms Claydon said the chief justices had appeared before multiple parliamentary inquiries and willingly agreed to attend the one on Tuesday.
"The chair called me last night saying she has concerns about potential issues regarding separation of powers. I have seen no evidence to legitimise this concern," she told AAP.
"I can't understand why the judges are now being silenced, but it's clear to me that we don't have the whole story."
Ms Claydon questioned why the judges' appearance was advertised in a media release on Monday afternoon, only to become untenable hours later.
"Are government members concerned about what the chief judge and chief justice might say?" she said.
"Are they worried about being exposed for failing to properly resource our courts or their flimsy cross-examination laws not standing up to scrutiny? Or are they worried about how their own party members might behave?"
The Liberal-dominated committee voted to postpone the evidence of the two senior judges.
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