A Board of Inquiry chair's relationship with a columnist from The Australian gave rise to an apprehended bias against the ACT's former top prosecutor, a court has found.
Former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC said he was "delighted" with the decision.
Mr Drumgold launched legal action last year, seeking parts of a board of inquiry report, written by Walter Sofronoff KC, be quashed or, alternatively, the conclusions made in relation to him be declared invalid, or affected by bias, or a denial of natural justice.
Mr Drumgold resigned as director of public prosecutions in 2023 after being slammed in the report.
It examined the now-dropped prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann, who has always denied raping fellow former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
In a statement to The Canberra Times on Monday, Mr Drumgold said he was "delighted" with the court's decision.
"I am looking forward to moving on with my life," he stated in a message.
While the majority of the report's findings against Mr Drumgold have been upheld, the ACT Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the former top prosecutor was successful on three instances.
Acting Justice Stephen Kaye found Mr Sofronoff's relationship with columnist Janet Albrechtsen gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.
The court previously heard Ms Albrechtsen and Mr Sofronoff had 273 "communications" in a seven-month period; this included 51 phone calls.
This also included revelations that Ms Albrechtsen had flown to Brisbane to have a private lunch with Mr Sofronoff.
On Monday, Acting Justice Kaye said these communications, which took place before and during the inquiry, may have caused a fair-minded observer to think Mr Sofronoff had been influenced by the columnist's views.
The judge also ruled that a Board of Inquiry finding that Mr Drumgold had engaged in "grossly unethical conduct" in his treatment of Senator Linda Reynolds was legally unreasonable.
This comes after the ACT government apologised and paid $90,000 in damages to Senator Reynolds over the propositions put to her by Mr Drumgold in the Lehrmann trial.
On Monday, Acting Justice Kaye found Mr Sofronoff had failed to afford Mr Drumgold natural justice concerning the release of a letter to the chief police officer under freedom of information laws.
In an 143-page judgment, Acting Justice Kaye said Ms Albrechtsen had "consistently" expressed views critical of the former director of public prosecutions in a series of articles.
Much of the case hinged on a message the report author sent to Ms Albrechtsen two days before the inquiry hearing began, saying: "What a thing to do to two young professionals under your mentorship."
The message was in reference to two witness statements given to the inquiry by Mr Drumgold's junior and solicitor in the Lehrmann trial.
In his decision, Acting Justice Kaye found this message would make a fair-minded observer think Mr Sofronoff "regarded himself as a 'fellow traveller' of Ms Albrechtsen" in respect to her views about the former top prosecutor.
In another message, sent during Board of Inquiry hearings, the chair texted the columnist: "I'll send you the transcript in the morning. Boring Tedeschi."
The text was in response to Ms Albrechtsen asking if she was permitted to know what transpired during closed court.
Barrister Mark Tedeschi KC was representing Mr Drumgold at the time.
Acting Justice Kaye stated "the comment went beyond conveying information to a journalist, but indicated that [Mr Sofronoff] felt comfortable to express such a view about counsel to Ms Albrechtsen".
The court ordered the ACT government pay the majority of Mr Drumgold's legal costs.
A spokesperson from the ACT government said in a statement on Monday afternoon, it was "considering the terms of Acting Justice Kaye's decision and will make no comment at this time".
"We observe, however, that the report's findings in relation to other persons and the recommendations in relation to the criminal justice system remain undisturbed," the spokesperson said.
