Defence whistleblower David McBride has lost a high-stakes legal bid to scrap a judge’s ruling that he couldn’t argue he was duty-bound to disobey orders, which his lawyer flagged could lead to him pleading guilty to his charges.
The team of the former military lawyer, who allegedly breached orders by leaking confidential information about war crimes allegations to journalists, sought leave to appeal against an ACT Supreme Court ruling that bars his barrister from putting to a jury that he was fulfilling his duty to the public interest in disclosing the documents.
In an 11th-hour application to the Court of Appeal, represented by ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, McBride’s barrister, Stephen Odgers, SC, said McBride’s “only real argument” was that he believed he did the right thing in leaking the documents, and there was sufficient basis to raise it with the higher court.
“It may well mean he has no alternative but to plead guilty,” Odgers said of the potential outcome if McCallum ruled against the application.
“There is likely to be significant public interest, and there may well be significant public concern, that it has been held by the ACT Supreme Court that a member of the Australian Defence Force must obey lawful orders, no matter how unreasonable or in breach of fundamental principles of justice they may be, and will commit a criminal offence if he does...
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