The Northern Territory Children's Commissioner Colleen Gwynne remains on a leave of absence "to consider her next steps", according to an Northern Territory government spokesperson, after prosecutors withdrew their case and a Supreme Court judge directed a jury to find her not guilty of abuse of office.
Ms Gwynne's case began in Darwin in early March and was expected to run for at least one month, with more than 60 potential witnesses, but ended abruptly just days into the trial.
At the time, the details of why a not guilty verdict was necessary were not aired in court by Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice John Burns.
However, in a 36-page judgement released on Tuesday, Justice Burns revealed the reasons behind his ruling, including that a public officer could not be charged for "trying to do the right thing but adopting a poor process".
Crown prosecutor Georgina Wright SC opened the trial, alleging Ms Gwynne abused her powers of office by attempting to recruit a close friend, Laura Dewson, to the position of assistant children's commissioner between December 2018 and June 2019.
The Crown also alleged that Ms Gwynne failed to declare her conflict of interest and also provided a negative reference for another candidate, Nicole Hucks, who is currently acting in the children's commissioner position.
However, the Crown accepted it would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms Gwynne's conduct was improper, intentionally "arbitrary" or an abuse of process.
At the conclusion of the Crown's opening address, Ms Gwynne's lawyers raised a question of law relating to the elements of the charge.
In a submission from Ms Gwynne's lawyers, it was put forward that the language of the Criminal Code Act meant that a "charge cannot be made out in relation to a public officer who was trying to do the right thing but adopted a poor process".
"As such," the submission continued, "conduct would not be, intentionally arbitrary or intentionally an abuse of process. Poor practices are a matter for disciplinary action rather than a criminal sanctions."
After submissions from both parties, Justice Burns ruled the Crown would need to prove to the jury Ms Gwynne's conduct was solely for the purpose of having a friend appointed to the position of assistant children's commissioner.
Justice Burns said that the Crown had not proven the element of the offence that would allow the jury to make a guilty verdict.
He also highlighted that the relevant section of the Criminal Code Act presented "significant difficulties in interpretation".
"Many of the important terms are undefined, and their intended meaning obscure or ambiguous," he wrote.
Standing outside of court, shortly after Ms Wright told Justice Burns there was "insufficient evidence" for the case to proceed, Ms Gwynne welcomed the verdict and criticised the police investigation.
"At no stage have I ever been interviewed by investigators," she said.
"Key witnesses who would have demonstrated my innocence were never spoken to.
"The humiliation and victimisation to which I've been subjected merely for doing my job is something that I had to endure in silence."
An Northern Territory government spokesperson said it would not be commenting on the judge's decision, and did not respond to direct questions over whether Ms Gwynne would be reappointed to her role as children's commissioner.
Nicole Hucks remains as the acting children's commissioner.
