A recently retired former ACT chief justice has been selected as a commissioner of the NSW anti-corruption watchdog as the agency undergoes a changing of the guard.
Helen Murrell SC, who left the ACT Supreme Court in March after more than eight years at the helm, is set to be appointed to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption after being nominated by an independent selection panel.
She is expected to be joined by two NSW District Court judges, with John Hatzistergos, a former state attorney-general, nominated to become chief commissioner, and Paul Lakatos SC put forward as a commissioner.
Unless the trio's proposed appointments are vetoed by a NSW parliamentary committee within two weeks, they will fill three roles set to be vacated in August.
Current chief commissioner Peter Hall QC is due to finish his term that month, as are commissioners Patricia McDonald SC and Stephen Rushton SC.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said Ms Murrell had "incredible expertise" in a range of roles and responsibilities.
He said he was confident she would bring "great understanding, foresight and integrity" to the commission, which former prime minister Scott Morrison branded a "kangaroo court" in widely criticised comments ahead of the federal election.
Mr Morrison had previously labelled the commission's inquiry into former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned last year when it was revealed she was under investigation, "shameful".
Ms Murrell has had an extensive legal career, having been called to the NSW Bar in 1981 and appointed senior counsel in 1995.
Prior to being made the first female chief justice of the ACT, Ms Murrell was a NSW District Court judge from 1996 until 2013.
Her past appointments also include stints as the NSW Medical Tribunal deputy chairperson, a NSW Drug Court senior judge, the Equal Opportunity Tribunal of NSW president, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of NSW deputy president, and a NSW Land and Environment Court acting judge.
At a ceremonial sitting to mark her retirement as ACT chief justice, she was lauded as a "formidable" judge who had transformed the territory's Supreme Court, which was once criticised for lengthy delays, into "a well-oiled bastion of legal efficiency".
