High Court invites 100 former associates to speak to Heydon investigator
The High Court has contacted at least 100 former associates who worked at the court during former justice Dyson Heydon's decade on the bench and invited them to speak to the investigator who concluded he had sexually harassed six of their colleagues.
A spokesman for the High Court told the Herald the court had "reached out to former associates and invited them to speak" to former inspector-general of intelligence and security Vivienne Thom about their experiences at the court.
Former High Court Justice Dyson Heydon has denied the allegations.Credit:Ben Rushton
About 100 former associates had been contacted to date, but the court was still looking to track down other associates.
The spokesman said Dr Thom was "not conducting a further investigation and will not be".
"What, if anything, comes of those conversations is hypothetical at this point," he said.
In a statement late on Monday, High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel said the six women at the centre of Dr Thom's investigation "have been believed" and "we're ashamed that this could have happened at the High Court of Australia".
Mr Heydon, who was appointed to the court in February 2003 and retired when he reached the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70 in 2013, has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
Mr Heydon's lawyers, Speed and Stracey, said in a statement: "In respect of the confidential inquiry and its subsequent confidential report, any allegation of predatory behaviour or breaches of the law is categorically denied by our client."
"Our client says that if any conduct of his has caused offence, that result was inadvertent and unintended, and he apologises for any offence caused," the statement read.
"We have asked the High Court to convey that directly to the associate complainants.
"The inquiry was an internal administrative inquiry and was conducted by a public servant and not by a lawyer, judge or a tribunal member. It was conducted without having statutory powers of investigation and of administering affirmations or oaths."
It is understood Mr Heydon elected not to be interviewed by Dr Thom, who drew no adverse inference from that decision.
On Wednesday, Mr Heydon's name was removed from the website of his prestigious chambers in Sydney's Phillip Street, Eight Selborne.
However, his name still appears on the NSW Bar Association's website as a member of the chambers.
The Herald has revealed a group of 14 female senior barristers in NSW lodged a complaint about Mr Heydon with the legal profession watchdog, the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, following the High Court's statement.
The statutory body has the power to investigate alleged misconduct and initiate disciplinary proceedings.
None of the female barristers making the complaint alleged they were the subject of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Heydon.
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