INSLM Grant Donaldson warns Witness J court secrecy 'should never happen again'

A report into the use of secrecy laws relating to sensitive national security matters by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Grant Donaldson released on Thursday has confirmed its limitations allowed for a "seemingly" indefinite imprisonment.

The powers enabling the court case to be held behind closed doors will now be reviewed by Mr Donaldson after Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus was handed the report last month.

"Alan Johns shows how s 22 can be used to conduct a federal criminal prosecution in 'secret' from start to finish and to maintain this secrecy, seemingly, indefinitely," Mr Donaldson wrote.

"This should not have happened in Alan Johns and it should never happen again."

The former intelligence officer, known as Alan Johns or 'Witness J', was secretly imprisoned in a Canberra jail for 15 months after being charged with disclosing confidential information in 2018.

The series of events was publicly revealed following a raid by Australian Federal Police of his Alexander Maconochie Centre cell in order to intercept a memoir he was writing of his situation.

The case sparked outrage among politicians and the public, including then-ACT justice minister Shane Rattenbury who had been unaware of the prisoner despite being in charge of the territory's corrections system at the time.

He was released from jail in mid-2019, 16 months before the end of his sentence.

Mr Donaldson's report recommends the Attorney-General be required to provide a submission to argue for closed hearings.

He said the country's first law officer should be reminded secret cases in criminal prosecutions are "exceptional".

The public should also be made aware secret cases are happening, even if orders are made to suppress their details, he added.

"Even where orders are properly made for closed court hearings or broad suppression, the administration of justice would be enhanced by their publication," Mr Donaldson wrote.

Mr Donaldson revealed in a hearing last year there was no reason details of the case couldn't be released earlier.

Mr Dreyfus announced on Thursday following the report's release the INSLM will conduct a review of the laws, which enable cases relating to sensitive national security issues to be undertaken behind closed doors.

"The review will consider how the Commonwealth can better balance the vital importance of open justice with the essential need to protect national security," Mr Dreyfus said in a statement.

"I appreciate Mr Donaldson's valuable work providing independent oversight of Australia's national security legislation.

"The government is committed to ensuring that the appropriate laws are in place to ensure the proper administration of justice and protect national security information."

Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer from the Human Rights Law Centre who also provided a submission to Mr Donaldson's review, called on Mr Dreyfus to swiftly implement the watchdog's recommendations.

"Secret trials have a long history in authoritarian states. They have no place in liberal democracies like Australia," he said.

"This is an important report from the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor which correctly recognises that the Witness J secret trial should never have happened and can never be allowed to happen again.

"Open justice is a central tenet of Australian democracy and unnecessary secrecy is corrosive to public confidence in the judiciary."