What does Canberra need most in its next legal leader?

Absent a star interstate candidate, Williamson, who I understand to be one of only two to get a second and final interview, must start as favourite for the job.

Since the implosion of the directorship of Shane Drumgold, SC, Williamson has been at the helm and reviews from within the organisation are strong, with praise for him having provided greater training for all and created a program to better integrate the senior team and the rest. Critically, he laid on counsellors for all who needed them, having realised, as one DPP insider put it, that "the whole office, not just Shane, was put through the wringer", both during and after the Sofronoff inquiry.

So, the Raiders?

At issue is the DPP's handling of the Jack Wighton-Lattrell Mitchell matter, where charges against the two rugby league stars collapsed spectacularly when previously unseen video came to light and police admitted their evidence had been dead wrong.

Earlier, the DPP's office had reportedly suggested to the defence that a public apology from Wighton might see the charges dropped and the hearing averted. The defence, and Raiders chief Don Furner, jumped on this (and received "splash" media coverage) when the charges were dismissed by the court, calling for the prosecution to issue their own personal public apology.

Senior legal figures with long experience of the DPP's office say there was no way the DPP's office would have written the letter without Williamson having to at least have signed off on it, and suggest that he should have taken ownership of that conduct.

A number in the legal community, including a couple of serving judicial officers, have spoken of a need for "fresh eyes after recent events", declaring the new DPP appointment "has to be external", pointing to the Wighton-Mitchell matter as well as general post-Sofronoff trauma.

The selection panel is comprised, it is understood, of Tasmanian DPP Daryl Coates SC; NSW District Court Judge Kara Shead SC, a former deputy NSW DPP; and the Director-General of the ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate, Richard Glenn.

They have to balance a three-way see-saw. The appointment requires top-flight legal expertise, plus the managerial/leadership qualities to run a big bureaucracy but with the important third leg of having the political nous to deal with the attorney-general and parliament and maintain a public profile that inspires confidence in our criminal-justice system.

And there are other questions.

Is it time for the first woman to have the job? All directors to date - Ken Crispin, SC, Terry Buddin, SC, Richard Refshauge, SC, Jon White, SC, and Drumgold - have been men, the first three all having storied judicial careers, two in the ACT and one in NSW.

Should it be a local or an interstater? The general feeling seems to be that an outsider would be acceptable only if of irrefutable top class: a known star, but there is no talk around the courthouse of one being in the offing. Indeed, the mail goes the other way, with many saying people don't want to grasp a poisoned chalice in a small jurisdiction. One story involves an interstate deputy director being sounded out this time around and giving very short shrift to the approach after not receiving an interview when in the field from which Drumgold got the nod.

Williamson has impeccable local credentials. Raised here, and raising a family here, he shows no intention of going elsewhere. He feels a connection to the community, and wants to continue serving it in a role he has acted in now for nine months. Even his brief bio on the DPP web site declares, "He is a native Canberran and has spent more than 20 years as a volunteer firefighter in the ACT Rural Fire Service."

He can also point to his time, albeit somewhat distant now, as a legal officer in the criminal law and human-rights units of the ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate to counter those who say of him, "Career prosecutors don't always make the best prosecutors".

This was a charge levelled also at Drumgold, and Williamson, as his deputy, might have to fight to get himself some clear air from the association.

Another charge levelled at both men was that they had not sat the NSW bar exams, a notoriously hard external challenge, but one that private practitioners endure before hanging out their shingles.

One judicial figure of recent years said that Drumgold's flaws had been exposed by the external examination that was the Sofronoff inquiry, particularly drawing attention to the former director's apparent inability to comprehend the proper basis on which questions should be put in cross-examination. To use an example, one can ask, "Are you on medication?" without any problem, but if one wants, for effect with the jury, to ask the far more pointed, "You are on medication, aren't you?" the questioner must have an evidential base to do so. Drumgold stunned the inquiry, and many others, when he maintained that the only difference was one of "puttage".

One source noted criticism of Williamson from Chief Justice Lucy McCallum in one recent case, and the handling of the Wighton matter. However, the overwhelming view is of high legal competence.

What about leadership? Williamson, as well as the measures noted above, has been seen as close to staff, some say more to the males on his team, and very close to police, making for an overly "boysie" atmosphere.

One senior source, who had previously had a similar role to the acting director, told of his annual declining of invitations to the CID Christmas party and his insistence on being tested when police had recognised him at random breath stops and had wanted to wave him on.

He expressed caution about the appearance Williamson may have created for himself by being seen socially relatively frequently with police.

And the political role, the public face of the community's top advocate in the criminal-justice system? Critics point to Williamson's "brusque manner"; "he goes at 110mph [for a prosecution] or he [quickly] does a deal", with no measured middle ground; "he has a blind spot on bikies" and their associates and over-uses the term "outlaw".

In the wake of these criticisms, the last word should go to a female prosecutor, who noted Williamson was "very aware" of the public scrutiny on the whole office post-Drumgold and went and won the resources to support staff.

She agreed his problem was one of demeanour: he was not always able to conceal his intolerance of incompetence.

Too close to the police? After the Lehrmann trial, the fracture between police and prosecutors had been wide. Williamson had taken the lead and succeeding in bridging it, a necessary repair job.

If Williamson were to be overlooked this time, unless that elusive "known star" candidate were suddenly to emerge, the office would be somewhat unaccepting and morale would suffer. Appointing Williamson would end "a year of uncertainty" and the team "could just get on with it".