One of the most powerful judges in the nation with ties to government is dragged into a scandal, convicted and later acquitted of having abused the power of his office to help his "little mate" — a criminal lawyer with gangland clientele.

Secret tapes are released of the judge's phone calls, parliament launches and then scuttles an investigation into whether he can be kicked out of office, and he dies soon after.

It is not the latest Netflix must-watch. Rather, it was the reality of 1980s Australia.

Classified documents from the inquiry into the conduct of High Court justice and former Labor attorney-general Lionel Murphy are due to be released on Thursday.

The man

Lionel Murphy being interviewed at the ABC. ( Supplied: Heide Smith )

Lionel Murphy was a Labor figure during one of the most tumultuous times in Australian politics.

As attorney-general in the Whitlam government, his reputation seemingly swung between that of a legislative visionary and a reckless firebrand.

While the nation's chief law officer, he began the process to abolish the death penalty, establish the Family Court and took the French government to the International Court of Justice over nuclear tests in the Pacific.

But that legacy was tarnished by his decision to order a raid on ASIO's headquarters in Melbourne, based on wrong information that officers were refusing to show him information about Croatian terrorists.

He was a senator for New South Wales from 1961 and 1975, before resigning to immediately take a seat on the High Court bench.

Murphy was well connected among the movers and shakers of the time. He was friends with former NSW premier Neville Wran, and reportedly played poker with colourful bookmaker Bill Waterhouse.

Allegations of influence

It was late January 1982 when Murphy allegedly picked up the phone to Clarence Briese, a senior magistrate in New South Wales.

Lionel Murphy's legacy was tarnished by a decision to order a raid on ASIO's headquarters. ( Supplied: Heide Smith )

The call was friendly, but pointed — asking him about a court case involving his "little mate", Sydney solicitor Morgan Ryan, and whether he would be committed to stand trial on conspiracy charges.

Ryan was one of the more interesting characters in Sydney's legal fraternity.

He had a number of infamous clients, including Kings Cross crime lord Abe Saffron.

But it was an allegation he had tried to get residency status for a bunch of Koreans on forged documents that led to the charges against him.

Magistrate Briese alleged Murphy was trying to pressure him to intervene — something the judge emphatically denied.

There were further allegations he had also tried to pressure a New South Wales judge.

The saga attracted the attention of federal parliament, and a Senate committee was set up to investigate whether the incident could lead to Murphy being removed from the bench for proven misbehaviour — the only way to give a sitting judge the boot.

Conviction and acquittal

There were clear concerns Murphy's reputation had been sullied as a result of the very public accusations and investigations.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recommended he be prosecuted to "clear the air", thinking it was unlikely to succeed.

But the opposite happened, and Murphy was convicted of the Briese allegation in July 1985.

Five months later, the New South Wales Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.

By April 1986 he had been acquitted, emerging triumphant on the steps of the courthouse. His barrister was Tom Hughes, father-in-law to Malcolm Turnbull.

Sorry, this video has expired Archival footage shows Lionel Murphy found not guilty

Parliament investigates

Just days after the court cleared his name, Murphy found himself in the headlines again with fresh allegations he had tried to bribe a police officer years earlier.

Despite that, he insisted on returning to the High Court bench.

His judicial brothers were none too pleased, and then chief justice Sir Harry Gibbs asked him to resign.

The Federal Government had little choice other than to ask parliament to set up a commission of inquiry, chaired by three retired judges to investigate Murphy.

The commission's abilities were significantly constrained.

The commission would examine the allegations in private, it could not force Murphy to give evidence, and it could not use the Federal Police to help it investigate any allegations.

Any findings it made suggesting Murphy had misbehaved also had to be based on evidence admissible in court, and it was not meant to look into matters already dealt with in his first two trials.

The three judges settled on 14 allegations, sending them to Murphy's lawyers. But before they could be dealt with, it was revealed the judge had inoperable bowel cancer.

The commission pressed ahead, before parliament ordered it to stop.

Its records were sealed. Murphy died just months later.

Sorry, this video has expired Justice Murphy died from cancer in 1986

The sealed section

"Thank God this Murphy thing is over" - another Geoff Pryor cartoon from 1986. ( Supplied: National Library of Australia )

The question of just how explosive the sealed documents are remains unanswered.

Some classified documents, described as "Class B", were released last year.

They outlined correspondence between the judges of the commission and the Labor government of the day.

It showed a tension between the commission and parliament over the restrictions on its investigation, but confirmed Murphy and his legal team were aware of the allegations they wanted to pursue.

It also included debate over what constituted "misbehaviour" serious enough to remove a judge.

"The Constitution was meant to apply to mankind, and it would be unreasonable to require of a judge a standard of extra judicial conduct so stringent that only a featureless saint could conform to it," Andrew Wells QC, one of the commission chairs wrote.

The next release is of the so-called "Class A" documents, and is likely to prove interesting reading.