New South Wales<\/a> privileges committee has been asked to examine whether the state\u2019s prosecutors\u2019 office breached parliamentary rules by using a judge\u2019s submission to an inquiry to have her removed from trials.<\/p>\nCiting a potentially \u201cchilling effect\u201d for future witnesses, an upper house inquiry asked for an investigation into the conduct of Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). This came after a submission critical of the ODPP \u2013 made under parliamentary privilege by district court judge Penelope Wass \u2013 was used to argue she should stand aside from criminal trials involving the public prosecutor.<\/p>\n
In a letter on Friday, the inquiry\u2019s chair, Robert Borsak, asked the privileges committee to consider whether the use of Wass\u2019s evidence was a breach of parliamentary privilege. He also requested that the committee consider whether the attempt to remove Wass from trials was in contempt of his inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are concerned that a very serious breach of privilege may have occurred,\u201d Borsak said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are further concerned that this action may be an attempt to intimidate an inquiry witness, with a chilling effect on future or potential witnesses,\u201d he said, adding the bill of rights prevented material from parliamentary proceedings from being used in court.<\/p>\n
It is the latest escalation in a running battle between Wass and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Sally Dowling, which has played out during the parliamentary inquiry into identity protections for proceedings involving children.<\/p>\n
In a 68-page submission to the inquiry last week, Wass called for the consideration of Dowling\u2019s removal as the state\u2019s top prosecutor. In the submission, the judge accused her of organising the leaking of details of an Indigenous child \u2013 whom Wass had allowed to perform a \u201cWelcome to Country statement\u201d before sentencing them for serious crimes \u2013 to Sydney radio station 2GB.<\/p>\n
The name of the child was not broadcast during an October 2024 broadcast in which presenter Ben Fordham criticised the incident, but Wass alleged the leak was a breach of a prohibition on naming child defendants in criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n
Wass alleged in her submission that Dowling had personally organised the leak. She said she had received threats and offensive comments from the public after the report was aired.<\/p>\n
Dowling told the inquiry that the leak had occurred from the ODPP\u2019s media unit, but denied she was personally involved in it. She alleged Wass had a \u201cpersonal grievance\u201d against her and the ODPP, and accused the inquiry of a \u201cgross denial of procedural fairness\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wass has been among district court judges who has criticised the ODPP\u2019s handling of sexual assault prosecutions under Dowling\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n
Following Wass\u2019s submission, the Australian newspaper reported that a public prosecutor had requested Wass recuse herself from a historic sexual abuse trial on Wednesday. A successful recusal application can lead to a trial being abandoned or retried.<\/p>\n
The recusal motion has been adjourned to March<\/p>\n
The Australian reported that another recusal \u00adapplication has been lodged in another case, and that further motions were expected..<\/p>\n
Following the report, the committee had confirmed the transcript of the committee\u2019s public hearing last Friday and the Wass\u2019s submission were part of the DPP\u2019s application for the judge to recuse herself, according to Borsak\u2019s letter to the upper house president, Ben Franklin.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the ODPP confirmed it had brought applications for Wass to stand aside from criminal cases in which the ODPP is a party on the basis of \u201capprehended bias\u201d, saying it was relying on \u201cpublicly available\u201d material from the inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ODPP contends the material is relevant to the question of apprehended bias and that adducing the evidence does not breach parliamentary privilege,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccordingly, the ODPP considers that reliance on the material could not amount to contempt of the parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ODPP has sought to have the questions determined by the NSW court of appeal, saying the matter \u201craises important and complex legal and constitutional questions concerning the scope of parliamentary powers and the integrity of the judicial system under the Australian Constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n
Guardian Australia sought comment from Wass through the NSW District Court, which declined to provide a statement on the matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Conflict #judge #NSW #prosecutors #referred #powerful #privileges #committee #intimidation #concern #South #Wales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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