A Belfast judge has refused to discharge himself from a case involving two Catholic barristers who have refused to declare they will serve Queen Elizabeth in order to become members of the Inner Bar, known as Queen's Counsel.
Mr Justice Kerr said in the High Court no reasonable or objective person could conclude there was a real danger or possibility that he would fail to be impartial or unbiased.
It has been brought by barristers Mr Seamus Treacy and Mr Barry MacDonald, who have applied for a judicial review of the Lord Chancellor's decision that they must declare they will "well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II".
The two barristers claim the declaration is unlawful because it discriminates against them as nationalists and is also an affront to their political sensibilities.
Instead, they want to use the new form of declaration, proposed by the entire Bar Council, which omits any reference to the queen.
Their lawyer, Mr Michael Lavery QC, had argued that judges who had been consulted by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Carswell, and unanimously decided to reject the Bar Council's declaration could not hear the case because of possible bias.
But Mr Justice Kerr said he was refusing to discharge himself as he had not been consulted about the wording of the declaration after publication of the Bar Council's report.
Mr Justice Kerr adjourned the hearing until next Monday when he is expected to rule on an application to join the Lord Chief Justice as a respondent.