A UK judge has upheld an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent more than five years evading the law inside Ecuador's London embassy.

Mr Assange's lawyers had argued it was no longer in the public interest to arrest him for jumping bail in 2012 and seeking shelter in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors were investigating allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women. Assange has denied the allegations.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation last year, saying there was no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden in the foreseeable future, however the British warrant for violating bail conditions still stood, and Assange faced arrest if he left the embassy.

Assange's lawyers asked for the warrant to be withdrawn since Sweden no longer wants him extradited, but the judge rejected their request last week.

Assange's lawyer Mark Summers went on to argue that arresting him is no longer proportionate or in the public interest.

Mr Summers said that the five-and-a-half years Assange has spent inside the embassy were "adequate, if not severe" punishment for his actions, and cited a report by a UN committee which said the 46-year-old was being arbitrarily detained.

Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer representing Julian Assange, spoke outside Westminster Magistrates Court last week. (AAP)

On Tuesday afternoon (local time), at the Westminster Magistrates Court, Judge Emma Arbuthnot found that Assange's argument to have his arrest warrant dropped was not in the public interest.



Judge Arbuthnot rejected all five of Assange's legal arguments, including dismissing claims by a UN working group that he had been arbitrarily detained.

Ms Arbuthnot was scathing, and said Mr Assange could come to court and "face justice".

She said Mr Assange was "a man who wants to impose his own terms on the course of justice...he appears to view himself as above the law."

Mr Assange said he was "surprised" by the ruling.

Julian Assange has spend more than five years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. (AAP) (AAP)

The judge went outside what the parties presented in court," he said on Twitter.

"This seems to have led to the significant factual errors in the judgment. US DoJ confirmed to Reuters again yesterday that its case is ongoing. There are 3 months to appeal UK ruling."