Lawyers warn an “outrageous” state government move to protect itself from compensation claims connected with Nicola Gobbo, the barrister turned police informer, is undemocratic and unjust, and could face a High Court challenge.
The proposed law would derail several multimillion-dollar claims for damages by those affected by the Lawyer X scandal, which have been before the courts for up to five years. Some are due to proceed to trial within months.
Nicola Gobbo was a barrister who became a police informer.Credit: The Age
The cases include Faruk Orman, who launched a civil claim against Victoria Police in 2020 after his murder conviction was quashed by the Victorian Court of Appeal because Gobbo had been revealed as a police informer while also acting for him as his lawyer.
Gobbo is also seeking significant damages in a long-running Supreme Court case over the force’s failure to protect her identity as a supergrass, which was scheduled for trial in October.
Both cases will be doomed if the State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill – to be put to parliament this week – comes into force, incensing lawyers involved in the high-profile lawsuits.
Solicitor Angela Sdrinis, who represents Gobbo, accused the state government of jettisoning a fundamental right to seek compensation through the courts to avoid further scrutiny of police misconduct.
Joseph Acquaro (left) with Pasquale Barbaro and Nicola Gobbo.Credit: Nine News
“This outrageous bill represents yet another attempt to extinguish the rights of a class of people who would otherwise garner very little public sympathy,” Sdrinis said. “It is an extraordinary attack on the rule of law and the possibility of accountability for abuses of power by police.”
Two lawyers, who asked not to be identified because they had not received instructions from their clients, said an appeal to the High Court would be considered.
As revealed by this masthead, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the legislation was necessary because it was unreasonable to burden taxpayers with ongoing civil claims arising from the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.
“Enough is enough. It is time to end this dark chapter in our legal history for the benefit of taxpayers,” Symes told The Age.
The legislation would also stop prospective damages claims linked to murdered lawyer Joe Acquaro, who also provided information to police about former clients but was not a registered police informer.
Symes rejected any suggestion the bill went too far in limiting civil liberties. “This is a very specific bill relating to a very specific cohort,” she said on Tuesday.
However, shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien accused the government of shielding itself from its own incompetence.
“This is a Labor government that wants to literally have two laws – one for itself and one for every other Victorian,” he said.
O’Brien said the draft law was especially egregious given the director of public prosecutions did not proceed with criminal charges against any police officers involved in the Lawyer X scandal.
“Now the government is trying to sweep away all the civil liability that this scandal has created,” he said.
The shadow cabinet has not yet decided whether to support the bill, although Opposition Leader John Pesutto insisted it should not be rushed through parliament.
Faruk Orman was freed because the case against him was tainted by barrister Nicola Gobbo’s dealings.Credit: Justin McManus
Civil liberties group Liberty Victoria has also accused the government of granting immunity to those involved in the scandal, especially Victoria Police, which decided to register and use Gobbo as an informer during Melbourne’s underworld war.
“This is not a matter where this terrible episode in Victoria’s history should be further hidden from public view and made immune from testing through the courts,” Liberty Victoria said in a statement.
Robinson Gill solicitor Jeremy King has represented Orman – who was acquitted in 2019 by the Court of Appeal, which found there had been a serious miscarriage of justice – for more than four years.
Orman served 12 years behind bars over the 2002 murder of underworld figure Victor Peirce before his conviction was quashed.
King said Orman’s case for compensation had been due to proceed to trial in April, after more than a dozen hearings in the Supreme Court.
“Without commenting on specific cases, any law that seeks to extinguish an individual’s right to seek civil remedies for fundamental and legal causes of action should be thrown out of parliament as undemocratic and unjust,” King said.
Solicitor Ruth Parker, who acted for Orman during the Court of Appeal hearing, also criticised the government’s abrupt announcement on Tuesday and its justification for the legislation.
“If we’re going to talk about figures, the Victorian government should be releasing the data on how much they have paid for Victoria Police’s legal fees over the past five years, and in particular, how much they’ve paid to defend against the Orman civil action,” Parker told this masthead.
“My expectation is it is more than $10 million.”
Victoria Police has in the past – in public pronouncements and submissions before the royal commission – acknowledged that recruiting Gobbo as an informer was a serious mistake.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has previously said: “I would like to make clear today Victoria Police’s absolute acknowledgement that the management of Nicola Gobbo as a human source, and the manner in which the information she provided was used, was a profound failure by our organisation that must not, and will not, ever be repeated.”
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