REPORTED elements of the Sofronoff Inquiry report questions every case led by Shane Drumgold as a public prosecutor and puts a serious cloud over the administration of justice in the ACT, says Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee.

It isn’t good enough that Chief Minister Andrew Barr has been “in hiding” all week and is continuing to suppress a report that many journalists already have, she says.

The ACT government commissioned Walter Sofronoff KC to lead an inquiry into the way the ACT legal system dealt with Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation against her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann, who has always strenuously denied the claims.

But a number of media outlets received embargoed copies of the report from the board of inquiry without permission from or the knowledge of the territory government. Comprehensive media reports drawn from the report were published on Thursday despite the government intending to hold back release of the report until the end of August. The government now says it will release the report and its response to it next week.

In the media reports, ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Drumgold was severely criticised in the findings by Commissioner Sofronoff.

Leader of the Opposition Elizabeth Lee says Chief Minister Andrew Barr must respond to serious questions on the Sofronoff inquiry.

“Andrew Barr’s continuing silence is unacceptable. If Mr Barr accepts the contents of the Sofronoff Report then he must explain to Canberrans how they can faith in the validity of every single case, every single decision and every single direction made by Mr Drumgold as the director of public prosecutions,” Ms Lee says.

“This raises serious questions of the administration of justice and access to a fair trial in the ACT. It is not good enough that Mr Barr has been in hiding all week and is continuing to suppress a report that many journalists already have.

“Mr Barr must immediately release the report and provide certainty as to when and how he will respond to the very serious questions that have been raised, including assuring the community that there are no other prosecutions that the public need be concerned about.”