NSW Director of Public Prosecutions candidates line up

It’s understood the next NSW Director of Public Prosecutions has already been chosen, but can not be announced until the appointment is approved.

The role of the state’s top prosecutor is up for grabs and one of the front runners is believed to be leading senior barrister Sally Dowling SC, a former Crown prosecutor who led the recent inquiry into the drug ice.

Ms Dowling is one of the handful of barristers who applied for the job as NSW Director of Public Prosecutions in a field that included an interstate candidate, sources said.

It is understood that Attorney-General Mark Speakman has already chosen the new DPP but an announcement cannot be made until the appointment is officially approved by NSW Governor Margaret Beasley, herself a role model for female lawyers after over 40 years in law and the first woman to sit as a judge on the NSW Court of Appeal.

Sally Dowling SC.

Former Director of the DPP Lloyd Babb SC. Picture: John Grainger

The job has been left vacant by the statutory retirement of Lloyd Babb SC on July 18 after 10 years in the job.

He was the third and most controversial DPP, best known for refusing to publicly explain his decisions, most notably in the wake of the fatal Lindt Cafe siege when his office mishandled court hearings for gunman and killer Man Haron Monis who ended up on bail at the time of the 2014 siege.

Mr Babb claimed legal professional privilege over documents that would have shed light on crucial decisions at the inquest into the deaths of Katrina Dawson, Tori Johnson and Monis.

Deputy DPP Peter McGrath SC has been filling in as acting DPP since Mr Babb’s retirement. Mr McGrath, who is also believed to have also applied for the top job, appeared for former Bathurst police sergeant Brad Hosemans who was cleared of any involvement in the disappearance of Janine Vaughan, 31, in 2001.

Acting DPP Peter McGrath SC. Picture: John Grainger

Former Crown prosecutor now District Court judge Gina O'Rourke.

Mr Hosemans was never charged over her disappearance but was targeted by the Police Integrity Commission following unsubstantiated rumours and cleared of ever meeting Ms Vaughan by a subsequent inquest.

Another candidate is believed to be Mr McGrath’s fellow deputy DPP Huw Baker SC.

Ms Dowling is a deputy senior Crown prosecutor who successfully juggled family and a busy job before returning to the private bar when she was offered the position as senior counsel assisting the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice.

She is a member of the Racing Appeals Tribunal.

Two other prominent barristers who may have been considered for the job, former deputy senior Crown prosecutor John Pickering and former Crown prosecutor Gina O’Rourke, are now District Court judges. Judge O’Rourke famously attended the wedding of her university friend Mary Donaldson to Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.

Mr Speakman yesterday thanked Mr Babb for his “strong leadership” of the ODPP which prosecutes around 18,000 criminal matters a year.

He said Mr McGrath would act as DPP until the day before the position is filled on a substantive basis, or 11 August 2021, whichever is sooner.

Originally published as NSW Director of Public Prosecutions candidates line up