Former Victoria Police chiefs to face Lawyer X royal commission grilling
The Victoria Police chiefs who authorised the use of a gangland lawyer as a secret informer are to face the spotlight of a royal commission into the unprecedented legal scandal.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Victoria Police chiefs who authorised the use of a gangland lawyer as a secret informer are to face the spotlight of a royal commission into the unprecedented legal scandal.
Former chief commissioners Simon Overland and Christine Nixon are among the high-profile witnesses likely to be called to face the inquiry, which the Andrews Government wants to see held in public from early next year.
The Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office and the Office of Public Prosecutions are also expected to face significant scrutiny over their role in the use of Lawyer X as an informer in scores of high-profile criminal cases.
THE FULL LAWYER X LETTER REVEALED
LAWYER X: HOW WE UNCOVERED THE TRUTH
LAWYER X PART 1: THE SCORPION’S STING
Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said yesterday the commissioners — ex-president of the Queensland Court of Appeal Margaret McMurdo and former South Australia police chief Malcolm Hyde — would want “as much direct source information as possible” from witnesses, and “we would like the commission hearings to be as open as possible”.
Ms Hennessy said: “Due to the nature of some of the material, there may be some circumstances where there will be closed inquiries … It is incredibly important that to the extent possible, these hearings are held in public.”
Justice McMurdo, AC, became the first woman appointed to lead an Australian appellate court, replacing corruption-fighter Tony Fitzgerald, QC, on Queensland’s Court of Appeal in 1998. She resigned in 2016. In 2012, in a paper Lawyers’ Duties: A view from the judiciary, she wrote that “the possibilities and types of potential ethical dilemmas for lawyers are infinite”.
Mr Hyde, 68, joined Victoria Police as a 16-year-old cadet, following his father, Norm, and elder brother Ross into the force. He rose to be deputy commissioner, and for 15 years, until 2012, he was SA’s police chief commissioner.
He completed a University of Melbourne law degree as a mature-age student in 1987, and later completed a business administration degree.
Ms Hennessy released the inquiry’s terms of reference yesterday. They require a report on the number and extent of cases affected by Lawyer X by next July 1, and a final report by December 1.
The commissioners will also scrutinise the conduct of police officers who handled Lawyer X, the force’s processes for handling informers, and the current use of legal informers in the criminal justice system.
Asked if she was concerned other lawyers had been used as police informers, Ms Hennessy said she had no “credible evidence” indicating this, but that the royal commission would “shine a light” on the system.
“It is important we satisfy ourselves that this is not a practice that is widespread,” she said.
>> FOLLOW EVERY TWIST IN THE LAWYER X SAGA HERE
One Lawyer X insider said: “If they think we were doing something in isolation, they’re dreaming. Every single thing we did, touched or thought about was written down. “
Asked whether the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office — which the Herald Sun recently reported was alleged to have known of and advised police on their use of Lawyer X — and the OPP would face the inquiry, Ms Hennessy said the commissioners would “inevitably” look at “a range of different agencies”.
She said while some could claim a public interest immunity, the inquiry had “wide and extensive powers” to examine “who it needs to”, including “any persons who have relevant information into the conduct of Informer 3838 (Lawyer X)”.
The inquiry will cost at least $7.5 million. Talks on appointing the commission’s counsel assisting were continuing.
Ms Hennessy said the government meant to implement all inquiry recommendations.
Victorian Royal Commission into Management of Informants
What will it investigate?
The terms of reference include the number and extent of cases affected by Lawyer X, the conduct of current and former police officers who handled Lawyer X, the adequacy of Victoria Police’s human source processes, the current use of human source information, and the appropriateness of police disclosures to prosecutors about human sources.
How will it work?
The commission will hold public and some private hearings. It will be able to examine witnesses, seek evidence and subpoena documents. It will also require evidence from witnesses usually protected by legal privilege and the right to avoid self-recrimination.
When will it report?
Hearings will start early next year and an initial report — detailing the number and extent of cases affected by Lawyer X — will be finished by July 1. The full report is required by December 1 next year.
Where will it be held?
A facility in Melbourne’s CBD. Negotiations on the location and appropriate security arrangements for the commission are continuing.
Who will give evidence?
That will be decided by the commissioners, but witnesses could include former police chiefs Simon Overland and Christine Nixon, the responsible government ministers, the detectives who handled Lawyer X, and Lawyer X herself.
WHO ARE THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS?
Margaret McMurdo — Royal Commission chair
— President of Queensland’s Court of Appeal from 1998 to 2007
— Worked in Queensland’s Public Defender’s Office from 1976 to 1989
— Admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1989
— Judge of the District Court of Queensland and the Children’s Court of Queensland from 1993 to 1998
— Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2007 for her service to the law
Malcolm Hyde — Commissioner
— South Australian Police Commissioner from 1997 until retirement in 2012
— Spent 30 years with Victoria Police including as a police prosecutor
— Appointed as Victoria Police deputy commissioner in 1994
— Special adviser to the Victorian Parliament’s “Betrayal of Trust Inquiry” on child abuse from 2012 to 2013
— Conducted the Tasmanian Bushfires Inquiry in 2013
Originally published as Former Victoria Police chiefs to face Lawyer X royal commission grilling