A retired judge has failed to overturn findings of corruption during an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s rape prosecution after he leaked information to the media.

Walter Sofronoff KC had challenged a March finding by the ACT corruption watchdog that he engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

On Thursday, Justice Wendy Abraham denied his request.

The Federal Court judge has yet to publish her reasons and will hear from the parties on who pays the legal costs of the failed lawsuit.

The commission’s probe stemmed from Sofronoff’s leaks of confidential witness statements and the probe’s final report to a journalist.

At a hearing in July, Sofronoff’s barrister told the court his client was not corrupt but genuinely believed he was acting in the public interest by sending material such as witness statements to the media.

Lawyers for the ACT Integrity Commission backed its findings, saying Sofronoff had threatened public confidence in the integrity of the government and public administration by breaching his non-disclosure obligations.

Sofronoff chaired a board of inquiry into the ACT’s criminal justice system after Lehrmann’s controversy-plagued prosecution.

The former Liberal staffer was accused of raping then-colleague Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. His criminal trial in 2022 was abandoned without a verdict because of juror misconduct.

Lehrmann lost a defamation lawsuit and a further legal appeal he brought over media reporting of Higgins’ allegations.

He has said he will take the case to the High Court.

The Sofronoff-led inquiry found the ACT’s top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, had lost objectivity over the Lehrmann case and knowingly lied about a note of his meeting with broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson.

Drumgold resigned and launched a legal challenge to the findings in the ACT Supreme Court.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

-AAP