Lawyer X case plagued by delays, ex-judge Geoffrey Nettle says

A former High Court judge appointed a special investigator to look into the Lawyer X fiasco has criticised law-enforcement agencies for impeding his probe.

A retired judge investigating whether charges should be laid against police and disgraced gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo has criticised law-enforcement agencies for impeding his “Lawyer X” probe.

Since last December, former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle has been investigating whether detectives had prevented the course of justice by recruiting Ms Gobbo as an informant.

But Mr Nettle claims he has spent much of that time in legal disputes with a “bevy of law-enforcement agencies” over access to information that had been available at the previous “Lawyer X’’ royal commission.

Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo.

Former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle.

“[The Office of the Special Investigator] was required to spend much of the first nine months of operations obtaining access to sections of royal commission records that had been redacted on the basis of undetermined claims of public interest immunity, other privilege, and statutory secrecy provisions,” he said.

Mr Nettle noted the Victorian government did not have the power to compel people to answer questions about their dealings with Ms Gobbo.

“To a large extent, therefore, its [the Office of the Special Investigator] rate of progress depends on the propensity (or lack of it) of persons to disclose what they know,” he said.