Witness J

Witness J, referred to in court documents by the placeholder name Alan Johns is a former Australian intelligence officer who was secretly tried and imprisoned in 2019 for communicating sensitive information over an insecure channel. Limited information about his identity and conviction has been made public.

Life and career Witness J is a graduate of The Royal Military College, Duntroon and served with distinction in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was awarded an Operational Service Medal for serving alongside special forces in Afghanistan as part of Operation Okra.

Witness J's subsequent employment has never been officially identified, a summary of offending released on 8 June 2021 stated that he was a former Commonwealth official who held a high level security clearance. Some reporting, and a Twitter account identified as belonging to Witness J, has stated that he worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or as an intelligence officer in the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS).

In 2017, Witness J was working for an Australian commonwealth intelligence agency at an Australian embassy "in a South-East Asian capital" when concerns were raised about his behaviour, including a trip to Singapore without written approval.

Witness J complained to the agency he worked for that he had been unfairly treated over an unsecured email system.

Trial and imprisonment Witness J was remanded in custody by ACT Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker in mid-May 2018, and by agreement of parties to the proceedings on November 19 2018 orders were made under Section 22 of the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 (NSI Act) to close the trial to the public. subject to regular psychological testing and an overseas travel ban.

In sentencing remarks, sentencing Judge John Burns maintained that Witness J was aware of the gravity of his actions and chose to act in a "grossly reckless" way. Burns found Witness J was motivated by anger at perceived unfair treatment alongside a lack of confidence in the process available to challenge that treatment, and his judgement was impaired at the time by mental health issues. Witness J had contacted Macklin for help publishing a memoir about his time in Alexander Maconochie Centre, which Witness J claimed was exclusively about his time in prison and did not contain sensitive information. In February 2019, soon after Witness J first contacted Macklin, the Australian Federal Police Witness J's cell, his brother's home and restricted email access. Witness J took unsuccessful civil action in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, claiming that his human rights had been violated. Some details of Witness J's case will remain secret for up to 20 years, despite the release of a redacted version of the remarks.

Impact of case The case sparked debate in the media about the unprecedented secrecy of the proceedings and its violation of the open justice principle underpinning Australia's legal system. The secrecy of the trial was widely condemned, with New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Anthony Whealy questioning whether Australia is becoming a totalitarian state. The use of a wholly closed criminal trial in the matter was described as "unprecedented" by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, with the possible exception of trials during World War I or World War II.

The Australian Capital Territory's Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury was unaware of the secret prisoner until learning about him through the media even though Prisoner J had been held in the Territory's Alexander Maconochie Centre over which Rattenbury had ministerial oversight. Profits of the book go to a mental health charity due to proceeds of crime laws. The book discusses Witness J's experience being held in the sexual offender wing, alongside high-profile criminals.

On 9 June 2021 a public hearing into how Part 3, Division 1 of the NSI Act was used to secretly convict Witness J was held by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Grant Donaldson SC. Lawyers from the Human Rights Law Centre and Law Council of Australia argued that secret trials were inappropriate and open justice was lacking in the case of Witness J. Witnesses from government bodies including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Office of National Intelligence, and Attorney-General's Department, told the hearing that secrecy was sometimes essential to protect national security.

In July 2022 Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus directed the INSLM to review the whole of the NSI Act, including the provisions under which details of Witness J's case were made secret. Public hearings were held on 19 and 20 July 2023, and the report, which made 40 recommendations, was completed on 30 October 2023.