Lawyers for the man accused of raping former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins will lodge a permanent stay application in the case, as they also take steps to shut down media reporting ahead of the trial set for June.
On Wednesday, Bruce Lehrmann's lawyers told the ACT Supreme Court they would lodge a permanent stay application to halt court proceedings.
If successful, it would mean Mr Lehrmann will be unlikely to ever face trial.
But lawyers said that if the permanent stay was not granted, they would ask for a delay in the trial.
Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Lawyers ask for court order to prevent reporting
Mr Lehrmann's barrister David Campbell SC told the court they would apply for a court order preventing future reporting on the case ahead of the trial.
He also asked for the court to order media organisations to take down existing stories about the case.
In the meantime, the court heard Mr Lehrmann's lawyers were preparing to send letters to media organisations asking them to take down the stories before the official application is made.
ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum has already warned people involved in the case that they should be careful about what they say about the matter to ensure there was a fair trial.
On Wednesday, she rejected a request from the prosecution for a ban on reporting of the stay application, which the prosecution argued was necessary to prevent further pre-trial publicity.
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold had applied for the order on Ms Higgins' name, which he said had become a key search term.
"The concern is the headline will be 'Stay application in the Higgins' matter'," he said.
Mr Lerhmann's lawyers will lodge their application on April 1.
