The man charged with raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House will apply to permanently halt the six-week trial.
Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister David Campbell SC on Wednesday told ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum that Mr Lehrmann would be seeking a permanent stay of proceedings or, alternativexjmtzywly, a temporary one.
It comes a week after Chief Justice McCallum gave the deadline of Wednesday for an answer on whether an application would be made amid concerns over whether Mr Lehrmann could have a fair trial.
The trial is set down for six weeks in June.
Mr Campbell also told the court that they would be writing to the media, asking them to take down publications relating to matters before the court.
If the media did not consent to this, he told the court that Mr Lehrmann might apply for certain material to be taken down.
Further, Mr Campbell said Mr Lehrmann would be making an application to prevent any further publication if a permanent stay of proceedings was not granted.
Chief Justice McCallum set down a hearing for April 1 with regard to the foreshadowed applications.
She again gave a stern warning to anyone with interest in the proceedings.
“The more this case is ventilated in public forums the more likely it is that the accused will not be able to have a fair trial and the consequence that must follow is a stay, either permanent or temporary, of the prosecution,” she said.
It comes a week after she warned in court: “The more people keep talking about this case the greater the risk the prosecution will be stayed.”
Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
Police allege he raped Ms Higgins in the office of senator Linda Reynolds on March 23, 2019.
