Citizen rights are under attack in a push to outlaw compensation claims connected to the use of lawyers as police informants, former gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo's legal team says.
Ms Gobbo passed on information about her clients to police at the height of Melbourne's underworld war two decades ago, in a saga often referred to as the 'Lawyer X' scandal.
It sparked a royal commission and a rush of criminal appeals, with her high-profile former clients Tony Mokbel and Faruk Orman having their convictions quashed.
The Victorian government is now pushing to outlaw all current and future compensation cases related to the activities of Ms Gobbo or slain lawyer Joseph Acquaro, with its State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill 2024.
The laws would stop Ms Gobbo's claim for compensation from Victoria Police, and any future cases from people found to be unlawfully convicted.
Mr Acquaro was never formally registered as an informant, although after he was gunned down outside a gelato bar in 2016 he was revealed to have shared information about a client with police.
The bill was a breach of the rights of citizens to seek justice, Ms Gobbo's legal representative Angela Sdrinis said.
"It is an extraordinary attack on the rule of law and the possibility of accountability for abuses of power by police and other state actors," Ms Sdrinis said.
“Ms Gobbo was 25 years old when she became a barrister.
"She was young, naive, impressionable, and vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by those in positions of significant power."
Leading legal groups cite civil rights concerns, with Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns SC worried it could set a "very dangerous precedent".
"It doesn't matter who the person is or their background, to strip them of a right to compensation for serious wrongdoing by the state is wrong," Mr Barnes said in a statement provided to AAP.
Law Institute of Victoria chief executive Adam Awty said it "fundamentally undermines the rule of law and administration of justice".
"The state has enormous power over its citizens and for it to legislate out of liability when the power is wielded improperly is wrong."
The proposed law only covers financial claims and not criminal appeals.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes denied the laws would set a precedent as it related to the "very specific cohort" of Ms Gobbo and Mr Acquaro.
"This does not impact people's civil rights outside that of the matters that were ventilated over many years through the royal commission into police informants," Ms Symes told reporters on Tuesday.
"What this bill is doing is extinguishing the civil compensation claim of somebody that has been connected to the use of, the inappropriate use, of the police informants, particularly that of Ms Gobbo."
The Victorian opposition is yet to decide whether it will support the bill, with leader John Pesutto highlighting a concern for the "broader principle" of stopping claims against a government.
"We are not convinced that there's an urgency to this bill, that it should be passed within a matter of days without proper debate," Mr Pesutto said.
Of the royal commission's 55 recommendations, 49 have been implemented, costing more than $200 million.
