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Federal Court Dismisses Privilege Objection, Clears Way for Sofronoff Appeal

Justice Wendy Abraham’s ruling removes the final barrier to his challenge of the ACT Integrity Commission’s March corruption finding with a substantive hearing scheduled for July 21 and 22.

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Overview

  • Justice Wendy Abraham ruled that parliamentary privilege under Section 16 does not prevent tendering the Integrity Commission’s Operation Juno report in court.
  • The decision allows Walter Sofronoff KC to proceed with a judicial review of the March finding that he engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
  • The Commission’s corruption finding stemmed from Sofronoff’s decision to send a pre-release copy of his 2023 inquiry report to ABC and The Australian journalists.
  • The Federal Court has set a full appeal hearing for July 21 and 22 in Canberra to examine whether the Commission’s findings should be overturned.
  • Sofronoff chaired the board of inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution, which itself led to a civil court finding that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities.