‘Serious finding’ about DPP must be considered carefully: top silk

The NSW government should consider introducing a new layer of parliamentary oversight of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the findings of an upper house inquiry should be considered carefully, a top silk has said.

In a controversial report, released on Tuesday, a 4-3 majority of NSW MPs made damning findings that DPP Sally Dowling, SC, authorised her office to give a negative story about District Court Judge Penelope Wass to a media outlet in 2024 and falsely denied doing so in her evidence in parliament.

The majority recommended the state government consider establishing a new parliamentary oversight committee for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The inquiry was blasted by Attorney-General Michael Daley as a “stitch-up” and former DPP Nicholas Cowdery, KC, described the report as “outrageous”.

Sydney silk Arthur Moses, SC, a former NSW Bar Association and Law Council of Australia president, said the majority had made “a serious finding in relation to the evidence of the DPP”.

“The finding cannot be summarily ignored or derided by the use of intemperate language,” Moses said when approached for comment by this masthead.

“The finding cannot be summarily ignored or derided by the use of intemperate language.”

“Careful consideration will need to be given as to what if anything should happen with the finding.

“Transparency and accountability demand that occur to prevent damage to public confidence in the administration of justice. The consideration of the finding should be done calmly and carefully out of respect for the people of NSW, Judge Wass, SC, and the DPP.”

The majority of the committee recommended the state government consider establishing a new parliamentary oversight committee for the ODPP, raising concerns about potential politicisation of the independent agency.

Moses supported the consideration of a parliamentary committee overseeing the ODPP with a limited role that did not extend to overseeing prosecutorial decisions.

The government should give “serious consideration to a specific standing parliamentary ... similar to the standing parliamentary committee that has oversight of ICAC or the UK House of Commons Justice Committee that oversights the administration, funding and efficiency of the DPP in the UK”.

“I am strongly opposed to any committee having any role in over-sighting decisions to prosecute or not prosecute for the reasons advanced by Nicholas Cowdery, KC, and the NSW Bar Association but there is no apparent reason why a standing committee should not be considered to oversight matters similar to the UK … committee,” Moses said.

During her evidence before the upper house justice and communities committee last year, Dowling admitted her office effectively gave a story about District Court Judge Penelope Wass to 2GB in October 2024.

Dowling vehemently denied she authorised the ODPP’s media manager providing the information to 2GB, and said she only became aware that her office was the source of the story more than a year later, in December 2025. The majority did not accept her denial.

Moses said that it “can never be the role of the ODPP to background or leak stories concerning judges”. He said this conduct might have the tendency to undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

“That can never be acceptable,” he said. “Judges have to decide cases based on the evidence and the law.”

The 2GB story was aired amid an apparent rift between the ODPP and some District Court judges, including Wass, over sexual assault prosecutions.

“The committee is satisfied the story was pitched in retaliation for Judge Wass’ previous criticisms of the [ODPP],” the majority said.

But two of the three Labor MPs on the committee and one Greens MP issued stern dissenting statements.

Greens MP Sue Higginson said in her dissent that the majority’s “unfounded and biased findings … are both irresponsible and incredible”.

The upper house inquiry was ostensibly set up to examine statutory identity protections for children in criminal proceedings, but it focused almost exclusively in its hearings on Dowling and Wass.

There was no hint in its name or general terms of reference to suggest it had an unrelated purpose, leading some observers, including prominent Sydney silk Geoffrey Watson, SC, to label it a “hatchet job”.

Former senior Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, KC, said on Tuesday that he had worked with Dowling for many years and she was “a person of the utmost integrity and ability”.

“The findings by majority of the committee fly in the face of the only evidence available to them,” Tedeschi said.

“They would never stand up in a court of law. I continue to have confidence in her ability to carry out her important role as DPP.”

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