The powerful New South Wales privileges committee has been asked to examine whether the state’s prosecutors’ office breached parliamentary rules by using a judge’s submission to an inquiry to have her removed from trials.
Citing a potentially “chilling effect” for future witnesses, an upper house inquiry asked for an investigation into the conduct of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). This came after a submission critical of the ODPP – made under parliamentary privilege by district court judge Penelope Wass – was used to argue she should stand aside from criminal trials involving the public prosecutor.
