The ACT's Integrity Commissioner has determined Walter Sofronoff KC's decision to hand a board of inquiry report to two journalists before it was made public may amount to corruption, choosing to launch an investigation into the claims.
The territory's corruption watchdog on Monday confirmed the commissioner, Michael Adams KC, had decided to launch a full investigation into Mr Sofronoff's conduct.
"The Commissioner has completed his assessment of these allegations and has decided to commence an investigation into the impugned conduct as he suspects, on reasonable grounds, that Mr Sofronoff's conduct may constitute corrupt conduct," the commission said in a statement.
Confirmation of a corruption investigation follows the commission revealing in April it was considering a complaint about Mr Sofronoff's conduct.
"The allegations assessed by the Commissioner relate to the provision by Mr Sofronoff of his report to two journalists before it was made public by the Chief Minister, allegedly in breach of the requirements of the Inquiries Act 1991 and allegedly constituting corrupt conduct under the Integrity Commission Act 2018," the commission said on Monday.
"As the investigation is ongoing, the Commission will not be making any further public comments at this time."
John McMillan was appointed acting integrity commissioner to complete the assessment of the allegations against Mr Sofronoff.
"The commissioner [Michael Adams KC], in his previous role as a judge of the Supreme Court, dealt with a person who is a potential witness in the assessment of this matter. The acting commissioner was therefore appointed to handle that aspect," a spokeswoman for the commission said last month.
Mr Adams was a NSW Supreme Court judge between 1998 and 2017. Mr Sofronoff was Queensland solicitor-general between 2005 and 2014, and had been called to the bar in 1977.
The Canberra Times has contacted Mr Sofronoff for comment.
Mr Sofronoff, a former president of the Queensland Court of Appeal, was appointed to lead a board of inquiry in February 2023 to examine the way the criminal justice system in the ACT handled the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019.
Mr Sofronoff provided a copy of the board of inquiry report to Janet Albrechtsen, a columnist at The Australian, on Sunday, July 30, the day before he handed it to Mr Barr.
The Australian published a 6200-word story on Wednesday, August 2 quoting the report "obtained by The Australian".
Mr Sofronoff also provided a copy of the report to the ABC's Elizabeth Byrne under embargo, after handing the report to Mr Barr.
The chair of the board of inquiry also made 65 calls to journalists between February and July 2023 and, of those, 55 were to people from The Australian, predominantly Ms Albrechtsen.
Mr Barr in August 2023 indicated the ACT government was considering its options on how to respond to Mr Sofronoff's handling of the inquiry, including whether the former Queensland Court of Appeal president could be referred to the territory's integrity commission.
"He breached his good faith to me by releasing that report ahead of giving it to who he was meant to under the legislation," Mr Barr said of Mr Sofronoff at the time.
In August 2023, Mr Sofronoff released a letter he sent to the ACT government justifying his decision to hand the report to two journalists.
Lawyers for Mr Sofronoff also wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr to point out he had not breached the Inquiries Act in releasing the report, and asked Mr Barr to make a public statement correcting the record.
The board of inquiry made damning comments about former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC, who resigned as director after the report was made public.
Mr Drumgold launched legal action last year, seeking to quash parts of the board of inquiry report.
In March, the ACT Supreme Court ruled that Mr Sofronoff's relationship with Ms Albrechtsen gave rise to an apprehension of bias.
