The sentencing of a a military whistleblower who leaked classified defence documents to journalists is set to begin in March.
David William McBride pleaded guilty last week to three charges.
The charges were one count of dishonestly appropriating property, and two counts of communicating documents relating to naval, military, or air force information to other persons not in the course of official duty.
They relate to the theft and disclosure to journalists of classified documents, which detailed alleged misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
A later inquiry uncovered credible information of 23 incidents of potential war crimes, which involved the killing of 39 Afghans and cruel treatment of two more between 2005 and 2016.
McBride was originally set to face a three-week jury trial, but pleaded guilty after a blow to his defence case.
Justice David Mossop had said he would not direct jurors that an oath of allegiance to the sovereign, sworn by McBride as a member of the military, meant his duty extended to acting in the Australian public interest even when in contravention of a lawful order.
Lawyers for McBride attempted to lodge an appeal of this decision, but it was refused.
Justice Mossop had also ordered that a series of classified documents key to the defence case could not be used as evidence in the upcoming trial.
The judge's reasons for this will be published at a later date, when the parties have agreed on a number of redactions.
In the ACT Supreme Court registrar's list on Thursday, the case was listed for McBride's sentencing proceedings to begin in March 2024.
