A former judge has been referred to the ACT Integrity Commission following allegations about his conduct during an inquiry into the criminal prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
The territory commission confirmed on Friday it was considering allegations of misconduct against ex-Queensland jurist Walter Sofronoff.
The allegations relate to his dealings with journalists during a 2023 Board of Inquiry and his decision to release the final report to a journalist before it was handed to the ACT chief minister.
Former top ACT prosecutor Shane Drumgold resigned after damning findings were made against him following the inquiry chaired by Mr Sofronoff.
Mr Sofronoff's final report found the ex-director of public prosecutions had engaged in unethical conduct during the Lehrmann trial.
Mr Drumgold launched legal action last August to invalidate the adverse findings, with his lawyers arguing Mr Sofronoff's communications with The Australian columnist Janet Albrechtsen had "infected" him with bias.
The ACT Supreme Court was told Ms Albrechtsen had written a number of articles critical of Mr Drumgold.
Acting Justice Stephen Kaye last month found Mr Sofronoff's behaviour "gave rise to a reasonable intention of bias".
Mr Drumgold later said he was "delighted" with the ruling and looked forward to moving on after resigning.
On Friday, Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams said he was confirming the allegations had been received based on the "extraordinary and ongoing public discourse" about the conduct of the Board of Inquiry and the ensuing judgment in Mr Drumgold's legal challenge.
"I have determined that it is in the public interest to disclose that the commission is assessing whether the issues call for investigation," he said.
"I see no reputational damage arising from making this announcement, noting that it involves no adverse findings of any kind."
The commission usually doesn't confirm or deny the referral or investigation of corruption allegations unless there are exceptional circumstances.
"Here, the issues are especially important, their subject matter has already been widely publicised and the need for the integrity commission to assess and, if necessary, investigate them is apparent," it said in a statement.
"The recent litigation has now concluded. It is accordingly appropriate for this announcement to be made."
Ex-Liberal staffer Mr Lehrmann, 28, was accused of raping Brittany Higgins, a fellow political staffer, in a minister's office in Parliament House in March 2019.
He denies the allegation.
His 2022 criminal trial was abandoned due to jury misconduct and a retrial was called off over concerns about Ms Higgins' health.
Australian Associated Press
