The ACT's top judge has issued a blunt warning about public commentary on the Brittany Higgins case, saying it risks interfering with the prosecution of the former Liberal Party staffer's alleged rapist.
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"The more people keep talking about this case, the greater the risk that the prosecution will be stayed," Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday.
She made the comment after barrister John Korn indicated his client, Bruce Lehrmann, would like to apply for a delay of the trial currently listed to start in June.
Mr Korn told the court, however, that he believed the chances of such an application being able to "get off the ground" in time were "slim to nil".
Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent, denying allegations he raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019.
He and the alleged victim, who has consented to being named in reporting of the case, both worked for federal government minister Linda Reynolds at that time.
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A possible bid to halt legal proceedings against Mr Lehrmann was flagged earlier this month, when Mr Korn told the court an application to stay the matter would "hopefully" be made.
Asked on Thursday if this was going to happen, Mr Korn told Chief Justice McCallum that, while Mr Lehrmann did not seek that legal proceedings be permanently discontinued, he "would like a stay for a period of time".
"But, having recently spoken to my instructing solicitor, they haven't been able to secure counsel who can [make the necessary application], and particularly within the time limit," Mr Korn said.
Chief Justice McCallum replied that it was "not a very satisfactory state of affairs, to be left without a definitive answer less than three months before the court has allocated six weeks of precious time to this trial".
She then asked Mr Korn to urgently obtain "clear instructions" from Mr Lehrmann about whether a stay application would indeed be made, giving him until next Wednesday morning to inform the court of the answer.
Chief Justice McCallum went on to say Mr Lehrmann had been "accused of a very serious offence ... that can only be tried with a jury".
"The laws about contempt are well-known in this country," she said.
"Statements made before a criminal trial that might interfere with the administration of justice and, in particular, the ability of an accused man to have a fair trial, risk falling within the classification of contempt."
Chief Justice McCallum urged anyone with an interest in the case "to bear those matters in mind and to be careful about the words they publish between now and the sixth of June", when the trial is scheduled to start.
"If I could perhaps put it in blunter terms, the more people keep talking about this case, the greater the risk that the prosecution will be stayed," she concluded.
