The Attorney-General has defended the ACT legal system, assuring Canberrans not to let "a case like no other" discourage them from "seeking justice".
Shane Rattenbury described the aborted case of former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann as "a wake-up call" for police and prosecutors on Monday, when he and Chief Minister Andrew Barr released the findings of an inquiry into the matter.
Every stage of the case has generated nationwide controversy, with the latest scandal erupting when inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC leaked the findings to selected journalists before providing them to a "disappointed" ACT government.
The premature release of the chairman's report prompted the resignation of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC, who rejected findings of serious misconduct and lamented the fact the inquiry had focused on him rather than broader systemic issues.
Mr Drumgold cited Australian Bureau of Statistics data in a statement announcing his departure on Sunday, saying he had hoped the inquiry would consider issues such as the reasons 87 per cent of women subjected to sexual violence did not report it.
"Systems do not miraculously self-repair," the outgoing director wrote.
On Monday, Mr Rattenbury admitted the case, which exposed confusion about the threshold to charge suspects in the ACT, should put police and prosecutors "on notice" about the need to work better together.
But he implored Canberrans not to be hesitant about reporting alleged crimes, saying the inquiry's recommendations would address the issues that had emerged.
"Given the intense media scrutiny that has surrounded this case, I want to assure Canberrans they should not be discouraged from coming forward and seeking justice," Mr Rattenbury said.
"This was a case like no other. The recommendations contained in the report offer a pathway forward for the ACT criminal justice system and will further strengthen community confidence in the institutions that support a fair and just system for Canberrans."
Mr Rattenbury said the government would be "closely monitoring the implementation" of Mr Sofronoff's 10 recommendations.
These include that ACT Policing work with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to formulate a policy that defines the threshold to charge suspects and implement training to ensure it is understood.
The government stressed that it maintained confidence in Mr Sofronoff's recommendations despite its disappointment in his decision to provide his final report to two journalists before even Mr Barr, who has indicated the former Queensland judge may now face an Integrity Commission investigation.
The inquiry was one of many legal proceedings that stemmed from an allegation made by Brittany Higgins, who accused Mr Lehrmann, a fellow former Liberal Party staffer, of raping her at Parliament House in 2019.
Mr Lehrmann maintains his innocence in the wake of an October 2022 mistrial and the subsequent discontinuance of the criminal case.
