A special investigator should be appointed to consider criminal charges against gangland informer Nicola Gobbo and Victoria Police officers, a royal commission has recommended.
Commissioner Margaret McMurdo's final report into the Lawyer X saga was tabled in Victorian parliament on Monday afternoon, making 110 recommendations.
"The fact that Victoria Police was able, with Ms Gobbo's assistance, to secure convictions against people accused of committing serious violent and drug-related offences could be seen as a positive for the community," Ms McMurdo wrote.
"That view, while understandable, overlooks the far-reaching and detrimental consequences of the conduct of Ms Gobbo and Victoria Police."
She has recommended the state government appoint a special investigator and immediately refer Ms Gobbo as well as current and former Victoria Police officers involved with her handling and management.
That investigator would consider if there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against them, or whether there could be disciplinary charges in the case of still-serving officers.
Ms McMurdo's report also revealed up to two dozen more police informers within the legal field, and 31 files involving people with other confidentiality obligations including nurses and government workers.
The royal commission reviewed 12 source files from between 1990 and 2016 involving people in the legal field.
Victoria Police refused to hand over another 11 files relating to people with potential legal obligations of confidentiality or privilege, saying the files were "extremely sensitive".
Ms McMurdo has recommended the state government appoint an independent person to review those files as a priority.
In her damning report, Ms McMurdo said Ms Gobbo's "duplicitous and improper" conduct spanned more than 15 years, beginning even before she was a lawyer.
She highlighted case studies including that of drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, which she said revealed the sheer volume of material Ms Gobbo gave to police.
It extended from information about his properties, code names, phone numbers and associates to the tactics deployed in his criminal trials and extradition proceedings.
Ms McMurdo acknowledged the overturning of convictions for Faruk Orman and Zlate Cvetanovski as a result of Ms Gobbo's informing.
She also pointed to the wide-ranging impacts of her involvement in the tomato tins drug bust that brought down major importers Rob Karam and Pasquale Barbaro.
"Ultimately 32 people were convicted for their part in the Barbaro drug syndicate. Remarkably, Ms Gobbo acted for at least 10 of these people, after having provided police with information that may have led to them being charged," she said.
Ms McMurdo found Ms Gobbo's conduct was extensive and sustained.
"It was also inexcusable," she said.
Her conduct breached her legal obligations, undermined the administration of justice, compromised convictions and damaged the standing of Victoria Police.
She recommended the Victorian Bar remove Ms Gobbo's name from its list of retired barristers within three months, given the symbolic significance of her remaining on the roll.
Ms McMurdo accepted Victoria Police's contention that context was important in their recruitment of Ms Gobbo in 2005, after the high profile slaying of Jason Moran and his bodyguard, another Pasquale Barbaro, at an Auskick clinic in 2003.
But she found the conduct of several current and former officers, was apt to bring the force into disrepute and diminish public confidence.
More than 100 officers and police personnel knew Ms Gobbo was an informer, but did nothing.
Ms McMurdo highlighted the pervasive and negative cultural emphasis from the top down, on getting results, without sufficient regard to the consequences.
Informer handlers and investigators failed to comply with source management policies went largely unchecked by senior officers, suggesting "a willingness to tolerate bending the rules to help solve serious crime", Ms McMurdo found.
Ms McMurdo has also called for independent external oversight of Victoria Police to ensure increased accountability and transparency in its use of human sources.
