Brittany Higgins will not appear as a witness in Linda Reynolds' defamation trial in Washington Supreme Court

Brittany Higgins will not be called as a witness in her own defense in the defamation case brought against her by Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds.

Ms Higgins' lawyer Rachael Young told the Supreme Court of Western Australia that it was not believed that a summons from her was necessary to win the case.

The shocking development came on the twelfth day of the trial, as Ms Higgins will have to appear in the witness box for five days starting next week.

Ms Young told Judge Paul Tottle on Monday afternoon that there were three reasons for not summoning Ms Higgins.

“The first is [she is] not obliged to present oral evidence,” said Ms Young.

“Secondly, for reasons which I shall explain at the end, we do not now believe that we need not call Miss Higgins in order to persuade Her Honour to succeed in these proceedings.

“Thirdly, there is a question of Mrs Higgins’ state of health.”

Ms Young submitted the medical reports to the court and requested limited access to the documents.

Senator Reynolds' defamation claim concerns social media posts by Ms Higgins which she claims have damaged her reputation and caused her distress.

The contributions concern Senator Reynolds' handling of Ms Higgins's allegation that she was raped in the Senator's ministerial suite in 2019 while working there as a junior staff member.

Another employee, Bruce Lehrmann, faced a criminal trial accusing him of raping Ms. Higgins. However, the trial was dismissed due to jury misconduct as there were no verdicts against Lehrmann, who has always maintained his innocence.

In a separate civil case, Lehrmann was found almost certainly guilty of raping Ms Higgins. He has appealed that verdict.

Ms Higgins was due to give evidence for a full week starting next week.

She is relying in part on the truth defense in the case, arguing that Senator Reynolds mishandled her rape allegation and failed to adequately support her after the fact.

Senator Reynolds denies the allegations and claims Ms Higgins and her now husband David Sharaz hatched a plan to harm her and the then government of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

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